Molly questions

In article , eetmail-
says...
If the fish has a gonopodium (the pointed anal fin used to internally
fertilie the female), it is unquestionably male.

Right, so what I originally thought was a female sailfin is actually
a male...um...hybrid, probably.

In mollies, red eyes indicate an albino.

So my male sailfin is an albino. Okay.

Most mollies sold now are hybrids, particularly the
orange and black fish. However, "sailfin" mollies with a lot of P.
latipinna blood have a thick caudal peduncle and a long dorsal fin that
starts well before the anal fin. They can also grow quite large.
"Short-finned" mollies with a lot of P. sphenops blood have a thinner
caudal peducle and a short dorsal fin that starts behind the anal fin.

So it looks like I have:
- one fairly pure sailfin molly, who is male and albino
- one mixture molly, also male
- one (probably non-hybrid) silver molly, female
- two (probably hybrid) black mollies, one female, one male
- three fry, all either completely or mostly black, all of which look
female to me at the minute, though I can't be sure

That's two males to three females, not counting the fry. I think two
of the fry came from one of my own female mollies, the third from the
LFS, so I suppose inter-breeding isn't an issue anyway. Let's hope
they're all girls though! LOL

--
FishNoob

FishNoob wrote:
In article , eetmail-
says...

If the fish has a gonopodium (the pointed anal fin used to internally
fertilie the female), it is unquestionably male.


Right, so what I originally thought was a female sailfin is actually
a male...um...hybrid, probably.


In mollies, red eyes indicate an albino.


So my male sailfin is an albino. Okay.


Most mollies sold now are hybrids, particularly the
orange and black fish. However, "sailfin" mollies with a lot of P.
latipinna blood have a thick caudal peduncle and a long dorsal fin that
starts well before the anal fin. They can also grow quite large.
"Short-finned" mollies with a lot of P. sphenops blood have a thinner
caudal peducle and a short dorsal fin that starts behind the anal fin.


So it looks like I have:
- one fairly pure sailfin molly, who is male and albino
- one mixture molly, also male
- one (probably non-hybrid) silver molly, female
- two (probably hybrid) black mollies, one female, one male
- three fry, all either completely or mostly black, all of which look
female to me at the minute, though I can't be sure

That's two males to three females, not counting the fry. I think two
of the fry came from one of my own female mollies, the third from the
LFS, so I suppose inter-breeding isn't an issue anyway. Let's hope
they're all girls though! LOL

Baby livebearers all start out looking like females. They develop a
gonopodium when they're a few months old. Guess you'll have to wait and
see.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com