tenymi
January 14th 05, 07:09 PM
I have a male sailfin molly (poecilia velifera) along with a couple of
swordtails (two females, one male). The male swordtail is a very
beautiful, spotted red, long tailed specimen, and has a nice and lengthy
gonopodium.
Well, sailfin molly, did I mention this guy. Supposedly a peaceful,
social, community fish - yeah, my ass. From the very beginning, he seemed
to be obsessed with an activity I could only describe as butt-sniffing,
obsesively following the male swordtail and approaching him (not
aggressively) just to make contact with his anal regions.
At first, the molly would only do this from time to time, most often
simply disrupting any casual meetings between male and female swordtails,
but as weeks passed, it only got worse. It got to a point where the victim
would get really nervous, hide under rocks, or swim like mad just to get
rid of the molly.
It did not seem to follow other fish in that manner; it showed no interest
in female swordtails, for example. Both fish lived in a 55 gallon tank
with some plants, plenty of hideouts and retreats, and the activity did
not seem to have anything to do with territorial aggression; in fact, I
wasn't sure that's any kind of aggression at all.
There seemed to be no obvious reason for this behavior - the molly did not
attempt to nip fins or do any harm, but nevertheless, it would hour after
hour, day after day, follow the poor swordtail and only get happy when it
could actually sniff the butt for a brief moment, either because the
swordtail was exhausted or surprised by a sudden approach. Since, despite
constant harassment, the swordtail was doing well and looking great, I did
not take any actions back then.
Well, it appeared harmless - UNTIL NOW. Today, I found the swordtail with
most of its gonopodium missing. Lacking other suspects (I suppose a pleco
could not do that ;-), and given the history of molly's behavior, I must
blame this fellow.
Is this an extreme case of gonopodium envy? I put the goddamn molly in a
separate tank for now.
Have you ever seen anything like that? Either way, beware of sailfin
mollies.
Would anyone happen to have any experiences with swordtails that had their
gonopodiums nibbed off, so to speak? Are they able to breed?
swordtails (two females, one male). The male swordtail is a very
beautiful, spotted red, long tailed specimen, and has a nice and lengthy
gonopodium.
Well, sailfin molly, did I mention this guy. Supposedly a peaceful,
social, community fish - yeah, my ass. From the very beginning, he seemed
to be obsessed with an activity I could only describe as butt-sniffing,
obsesively following the male swordtail and approaching him (not
aggressively) just to make contact with his anal regions.
At first, the molly would only do this from time to time, most often
simply disrupting any casual meetings between male and female swordtails,
but as weeks passed, it only got worse. It got to a point where the victim
would get really nervous, hide under rocks, or swim like mad just to get
rid of the molly.
It did not seem to follow other fish in that manner; it showed no interest
in female swordtails, for example. Both fish lived in a 55 gallon tank
with some plants, plenty of hideouts and retreats, and the activity did
not seem to have anything to do with territorial aggression; in fact, I
wasn't sure that's any kind of aggression at all.
There seemed to be no obvious reason for this behavior - the molly did not
attempt to nip fins or do any harm, but nevertheless, it would hour after
hour, day after day, follow the poor swordtail and only get happy when it
could actually sniff the butt for a brief moment, either because the
swordtail was exhausted or surprised by a sudden approach. Since, despite
constant harassment, the swordtail was doing well and looking great, I did
not take any actions back then.
Well, it appeared harmless - UNTIL NOW. Today, I found the swordtail with
most of its gonopodium missing. Lacking other suspects (I suppose a pleco
could not do that ;-), and given the history of molly's behavior, I must
blame this fellow.
Is this an extreme case of gonopodium envy? I put the goddamn molly in a
separate tank for now.
Have you ever seen anything like that? Either way, beware of sailfin
mollies.
Would anyone happen to have any experiences with swordtails that had their
gonopodiums nibbed off, so to speak? Are they able to breed?