I bought a male and three gals.

Very nice!!

Sweet, any plans for them besides enjoying their beauty?

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

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.

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

Great pics.