My new mollies

Subject: My new mollies Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:08 pm

I bought a male and three gals.

Subject: Re: My new mollies Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:02 am

Very nice!!

Subject: Re: My new mollies Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:54 pm

Sweet, any plans for them besides enjoying their beauty?

_________________
"There he goes - one of God's own prototypes -
a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live, and too rare to die".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Subject: Re: My new mollies Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:32 pm

Not at the moment letting them settle in and get comfortable.

Subject: Re: My new mollies Mon Jul 05, 2010 5:48 pm

First just want to say they are beautiful. I don't get to see many mollies at the store I use beyond black, white and dalmation mostly. Nice to see a different variety.

Anyone know how closely mollies and platties are related? To me some look very close depending on the type and size.

Subject: Re: My new mollies Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:55 pm

jbloom81 wrote:

First just want to say they are beautiful. I don't get to see many mollies at the store I use beyond black, white and dalmation mostly. Nice to see a different variety.

Anyone know how closely mollies and platties are related? To me some look very close depending on the type and size.

They are both poeciliids, belonging to the same family, the Poeciliidae, but to different genera. They are not close enough to hybridize naturally, and AFAIK there have been no attempts to use artificial means to do so.

Platies and swordtails both belong to the same genus, Xiphophorus, and hybridize readily. Many fancy platies and swordtails in the trade have been produced via the hybrdidization of several species of Xiphophorous: the common platy (X. maculatus), the variatus platy (X. variatus) and the green swordtail (X. helleri). Other species of Xiphophorous are seldom used due to their infrequent availability to breeders and hobbyists.

Many of the fancy mollies are hybrids of several species as well. The two most common species used when hybridizing mollies are Poecilia sphenops and P. latipinna, though P. velifera is used as well, though less frequently. Again, other species of molly are infrequently available and seldom used in hybrids.

Might as well round out the Big Four livebearers with a quick word about the guppy. It is also a poeciliid. It has been bounced back and forth from the genus Poecilia and it's own genus, Lebistes. The last I knew, it was officially recognized as Lebistes reticulatus again. It is not known to hybridize with the other three genera. However, Endler's livebearer is very closely related. Until relatively recently it was considered a local variation of the guppy. It is considered it's own species at this time, Poecilia wingei or Lebistes wingei. If it hasn't been reclassified into the genus Lebistes, it needs to be done, as it is very close to the guppy genetically and does not warrant a separate genus. These two species hybridize indiscriminately.

Cheers, and welcome to FWM.

WYite

_________________
One can never have too many fish tanks.