Molly cross Platy babies!!!

[luvanythingthatswims]

I recently found the smallest babies I have ever seen before in my fish tank.... (x3, the rest were probably eaten)

Weeks went by and they were all of the same "litter" so to speak, but they seemed to be all different shades! One is a cream with orange fins, one is a peachy colour, and one a goldfish orange, all with a similar tail to a platy's but a little stumpier than a normal platy's, and faint black spots!

Then it hit me! In my tank, the only orange fish I have is my female platy, and the only males I have are 2 of my dalmation mollies! In conclusion - they must have produced a cross breed of babies!

I am SO excited for when they're full grown!

...I just can't decide whether or not to call them moltys or pollys! (probably pollys because that's cuter!)

[runninwoof]

mollies and platies cannot crossbread, they are from a diferend genus

[kribensis12]

^ I second that one.

[luvanythingthatswims]

Well if that's the case then, I'm not sure what kind of babies they are!

[kribensis12]

Probably Platy. If they are see through-ish, then they are platy. Molly fry are born not see through, due to their coloration.

[jrp1588]

how long have you had the platies? The female was probably just storing sperm

[luvanythingthatswims]

Yes that very well could have been possible!

I have a question.... The type of platy I have doesn't fall under any website I could find! It is orange, with black splotches just before the tail, and the tail is clear, with a long sword-like tail (in the center of the tail fin). That's why I suddenly thought it was a swordtail, but I couldn't find the breed ANYWHERE! In neither the swordtail breeds OR the platy breeds!

[kribensis12]

Picture? It may be a cross betwene platy and Swordtail. As far as color goes, there are so many varaties, that yours is probably a random colored one.

[luvanythingthatswims]

Ok well i don't have an exact picture, but it looks similer to this platy, but with a more yellowish tail, and the shape is like a swordtail's, but the sword part extends from the direct middle of the tail fin. It also has a couple random black dots elsewhere on its body.

Another thing - when i bought this breed of fish, they said it was a platy, but it is more likely to be a cross breed, judging by its tail.

Oh! And the fish I have that fits this description is the mother of the babies I thought were a molly/platy cross at first.

[kribensis12]

It is probably a cross breed between a sowrdtail and a platy. If it isnt, then you have a rare fish, since the fish you just showed a picture of it a cross bewteen a swordtail.

[thatmagicguy]

Most fancy platys and swordtails have lineages that can be traced to a cross between the swordtail Xiphophorus helleri and the platy Xiphophorus maculatus. In the early days breeders were very cognizant(sp) of their breeders' lineages and they were terrific breeders who cared about quality and preserving bloodlines. Today very few breeders care about this and the order of the day is quantity.

Your platy can throw off any number of color combinations despite what color she is. And as one person answered, they do indeed store sperm and can produce babies from a male she was exposed to months ago.


The picture you posted is the standard mickey mouse platy, a derivitive of the original crosses between X. helleri and X. maculatus. Before the mickey mouse ears came along it only had the crescent moon shaped mark which gave platys their early years name of "moon fish".

Bill

[luvanythingthatswims]

well that's good to know!
I'm just wondering.... all the pictures of the platy cross swordtails have the "swordtail" part at the bottom of their tailfin, but my fish has hers at the middle of her tailfin, so does that make any difference?

[thatmagicguy]

Originally Posted by luvanythingthatswims

well that's good to know!
I'm just wondering.... all the pictures of the platy cross swordtails have the "swordtail" part at the bottom of their tailfin, but my fish has hers at the middle of her tailfin, so does that make any difference?

Things like tail spikes are just arbitrary genetic traits. With careful breeding you can often isolate these traits to make a "new" fish. Bill

[luvanythingthatswims]

So does that make my fish any different from the normal platy swordtail cross?

[jrp1588]

not unless you can breed it, get other fish with the same tail, and selectively breed for the trait until you consistently get it

[thatmagicguy]

It is still a Xiphophorus maculatus. Platy. As I stated , the fancy varieties were brought about by crossing maculatus with helleri(swordtails). So technically all fancy swordtails and platys are crosses. But if yours looks like the pic you posted except for the tail extension then it is a platy pretty much, with a trait for an extended tail ray(s). I know it sounds confusing but really a swordtail is an elongated platy with a sexually determined trait of a sword. Fish that are elongate with a sword are more closely related to Xiphophorus helleri, fish that are not elongated and show the traditional platy shape are more closely related to Xiphophorus maculatus. It is hard to say for certain without a picture but I would say your fish's tail has nothing to do with it being a swordtail, X. helleri. Bill

[luvanythingthatswims]

Originally Posted by thatmagicguy

It is still a Xiphophorus maculatus. Platy. As I stated , the fancy varieties were brought about by crossing maculatus with helleri(swordtails). So technically all fancy swordtails and platys are crosses. But if yours looks like the pic you posted except for the tail extension then it is a platy pretty much, with a trait for an extended tail ray(s). I know it sounds confusing but really a swordtail is an elongated platy with a sexually determined trait of a sword. Fish that are elongate with a sword are more closely related to Xiphophorus helleri, fish that are not elongated and show the traditional platy shape are more closely related to Xiphophorus maculatus. It is hard to say for certain without a picture but I would say your fish's tail has nothing to do with it being a swordtail, X. helleri. Bill

Wow! Ok now I get it! A lot of information, but I get it!

[sunniedaysmiles]

I know this is a really old thread, but you have (had) a plume tail platy.

[Tseros7768]

cool, i have raised mollies and platies and they have cross bred. Yours probablly have too.

[meegosh]

Originally Posted by Tseros7768

cool, i have raised mollies and platies and they have cross bred. Yours probablly have too.

They cannot cross breed. You must have skipped the beginning of this thread!