Odd Livebearers

[xhan]

A fair few months ago a friend of mines guppy had a batch of fry with 4/5 of the 60+ being very different. They were paler than the rest and didn't grow nearly as fast. In fact they were still 2 week old fry sized when the others were about an 3/4cm long. They also never developed any colour, all the other fry were orange.

She gave me a few and I've managed to keep one going, its about 8/9 months old now. Still small and pale with a slight orange hue to the silver in some places and black highlights on the anal fin. Its body shape seems to be a mix of both guppy and platy - hence the name pluppy!.

Anyway, this 'pluppy' as we called it turned out to be female. The only other male fish in the tank are platys so they must be the fathers. I found the fry by accident while I was dismantling the tank.

Heres a video of the whole lot! The mum is first and then the two fry. The fry were about 2 weeks old when I filmed this.

http/www.flickr.com/photos/apricot13/4801713230/

I just find the whole thing very odd! Maybe someone else has had a similar experience as I know platys and guppies can't breed but it seems from some other forum threads others have had this happen but the fry haven't lived long enough expecially not to have freaky babies of their own!

 

[kizno1]

The fry in that film just look like platies to me. Its impossible for platys and guppies to cross. Platys and swords can cross and guppies and mollys can cross but not platys and guppys.

 

[helterskelter]

The adult female you showed in the video is a platy and not a guppy.

Also they will not cross as u already said, many people think they can but it's never been proven and i think it never will. Not with out work from an scientist anyway.

 

[OldMan47]

As Helterskelter said, the female at the beginning of your video is a platy with the typical coloring of a wild X. variatus. It is not the fry from a guppy at all. Your friend must have a female platy in their tank, or they did when that one was born.

 

[xhan]

its interesting that you've both said the mother was a platy because the mother was actually a guppy! It was in a fry trap and there were no platy's giving birth at the time.

 

[sted]

what they are saying is the fish at the beginning of that video that you ahve stated as the mum is a platy and not a guppy!

 

[helterskelter]

its interesting that you've both said the mother was a platy because the mother was actually a guppy! It was in a fry trap and there were no platy's giving birth at the time.

It's impossible for it to of come from a guppy. Somewhere the platy fry has been added no matter what someone else says.
Sorry if I sound blunt, but that's the truth.

 

[OldMan47]

I must agree, the fish you have is a platy similar in many ways to the one here. Which, as I said is a Xiphophorus variatus.

 

[xhan]

I must agree, the fish you have is a platy similar in many ways to the one here. Which, as I said is a Xiphophorus variatus.

Surely that wouldn't come from an orange mickey mouse platy? which were the only other type of live bearer in the tank at the time. They were previous fry that were born in the tank so theres no chance of fish shop dna.

 

[helterskelter]

you can clearly see the micky mouse marking on that fish but looks to be crossed with a sunset platy