Molly - male or female?

[Aceman44]

Hi. Just noticed 4 fry in my tank. Thought I had 4 male mollies but does not seem to be the case. Can anybody confirm if this one is the female?

thanks

 

[Essjay]

In the photo, the anal fin (the one underneath right in front of the tail) is not terribly clear - does it look like a normal fan shape or is it rod shaped? If it's fan shaped, it's a female; if it's rod shaped, it's a male. But it does look in the photo more like a folded up fan than a rod, so I think it's female.

 

[Aceman44]

Hi, Thanks for commenting. It looks more fan like when compared to the others in the tank. They certainly look more rod like.

 

[Aceman44]

Do you think this one looks pregnant still? Is there a way of telling which one has given birth?

 

[Aceman44]

Maybe this is a better picture?

 

[Essjay]

That does not look like a rod shaped anal fin, properly called a gonopodium.

If this is the only molly with a fan shaped anal fin, this is the one which have birth. She doesn't look big enough to have more to come. There could well have been a lot more which were probably eaten - or they are hiding and you have yet to find them. Also, if she's young she won't have as many fry as a mature female. But she will probably have more fry in another 4 to 6 weeks.


But I do need to warn you that 1 female and 3 males is not a good ratio. Males will pester a female almost continually and with three males pestering one female she will become exhausted. The usual recommendation is 1 male, 3 females, though this does lead to a lot of fry.

 

[Aceman44]

Ok thanks again. When we got the fish we were under the impression that they were all male. I’ll call the fish shop and see if they will take her back . I guess I’ll also have to wait to see what sex the fry will be. I didn’t particularly want to have them breeding as we only have a small tank.