CletePurcel
Fish Fanatic
Does anyone know the name for this variety? The one on the left is a Mickey Mouse, but what about the one on the right?
Platy Id?
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CletePurcel
Fish Fanatic
I think now that it is a white calico...
I have no idea what the present commercial name would be for that platy. Names in the LFS are whatever the LFS thinks will sell more fish. Sometimes they will use the name provided by a breeder and sometimes the name will be a strictly local one. It is why we try to use scientific names for pure fish, at least we can all agree on what those names mean. For line bred color morphs, I would go with whatever the developer of the strain calls them. After all, that person has given them a name that can be reproduced by that breeder.
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CletePurcel
Fish Fanatic
Thanks. I have seen this kind of Platy in online pictures called white calico or red tailed white calico.
Being new to keeping tropical fish I have no idea how this type of thing works. It all seems rather confusing and perhaps unscientific.
Being new to keeping tropical fish I have no idea how this type of thing works. It all seems rather confusing and perhaps unscientific.
You are entirely correct CletePurcel. There is no science involved in common names that you find in a pet shop.
I keep lots of fish that are not only identified by their scientific species name but also by the collection location where the original fish came from. An example is my Xenoophorus captivus - Jesus Maria. The first part of that is the species name, Xenoophorus captivus. The last part, Jesus Maria, is the name of the location in Mexico where my own fish's ancestors were collected from the wild. My fish have never been in the wild and were sold to me by another specialist such as I am. I keep not only species in distinct tanks but even the location specific fish in a distinct tank. With those fish, I am certain, as far as a person really can be, that if I returned my fish to the Jesus Maria location, the local fish could not tell them from their own population. On the other hand, my green goodeids, the common name for my fish, are far plainer in appearance than those fancy fish that you have shown us. As my wife likes to say, the only thing distinct about my basic gray fish is the striping pattern or spotting patterns. Otherwise they are basic gray minnows. The kind you would likely see in any fisherman's minnow bucket.
When a person takes the time to cross breed fish and develop a fish with specific characteristics from wild stock, we try to use that person's name for his strain of fish. What often happens next is easy to tell. A wholesaler uses the breeder's strain name and finds it simply does not sell well. The next step is that the wholesaler becomes a bit creative and creates a name that drives sales. If the LFS believes that name will work in their market, they try it out on their customers. Sometimes it works but sometimes yet a third name is given to the strain by the LFS to promote more sales.
Now let's go back to scientific names. The original breeder took closely related species or even location variations of a single species and mixed them to try to get a new appearance. If that was successful, we already have a fish best described as a cross between 2 species, there are notations used for such fish where the two scientific names are separated by a simple x like Xiphophorus helleri x Xiphophorus variatus. This indicates a cross between the common swordtail, X helleri and one of the most common platies, X variatus. It is the true identity of many fancy swordtails and platies. It does not tell you which color morph of each species was chosen for the cross though. Since nothing in the way of fancy fish is ever that simple, the scientific names and their corresponding identification is seldom tracked properly by a true breeder. On the other hand, that breeder will be able to tell you in excruciating detail how he/she went about creating a new strain of Xiphophorus with a particular fin growth pattern and color combination. Anyone who does not keep good records of what they do cannot get very far in developing a new strain, no matter how talented they may be in choosing the breeding parents.
As the BAP chair for my local club, I face the challenge of deciding whether or not to give someone credit for breeding a particular type of fish. If they tell me that they bred a pet shop molly, they will get credit for a pet shop molly. When they come back with another color pattern of a pet shop molly, I must turn them away. It is not breeding another species in the sense that Breeders Award Programs mean, it is merely repeating a breeding that they have already done, a pair of pet shop mollies. That does not detract from their effort but simply recognizes that they are doing something that is not new to them. They have already shown success breeding pet shop mollies. A case where I would need to recognize a new breeding would be if someone took readily available pet shop mollies and developed a whole new color strain of fin pattern from those fish. The thing we would recognize would not be that they managed to breed pet shop mollies but that they made something new form existing stock. That is a thing that few of us hobbyists ever tackle in earnest.
I keep lots of fish that are not only identified by their scientific species name but also by the collection location where the original fish came from. An example is my Xenoophorus captivus - Jesus Maria. The first part of that is the species name, Xenoophorus captivus. The last part, Jesus Maria, is the name of the location in Mexico where my own fish's ancestors were collected from the wild. My fish have never been in the wild and were sold to me by another specialist such as I am. I keep not only species in distinct tanks but even the location specific fish in a distinct tank. With those fish, I am certain, as far as a person really can be, that if I returned my fish to the Jesus Maria location, the local fish could not tell them from their own population. On the other hand, my green goodeids, the common name for my fish, are far plainer in appearance than those fancy fish that you have shown us. As my wife likes to say, the only thing distinct about my basic gray fish is the striping pattern or spotting patterns. Otherwise they are basic gray minnows. The kind you would likely see in any fisherman's minnow bucket.
When a person takes the time to cross breed fish and develop a fish with specific characteristics from wild stock, we try to use that person's name for his strain of fish. What often happens next is easy to tell. A wholesaler uses the breeder's strain name and finds it simply does not sell well. The next step is that the wholesaler becomes a bit creative and creates a name that drives sales. If the LFS believes that name will work in their market, they try it out on their customers. Sometimes it works but sometimes yet a third name is given to the strain by the LFS to promote more sales.
Now let's go back to scientific names. The original breeder took closely related species or even location variations of a single species and mixed them to try to get a new appearance. If that was successful, we already have a fish best described as a cross between 2 species, there are notations used for such fish where the two scientific names are separated by a simple x like Xiphophorus helleri x Xiphophorus variatus. This indicates a cross between the common swordtail, X helleri and one of the most common platies, X variatus. It is the true identity of many fancy swordtails and platies. It does not tell you which color morph of each species was chosen for the cross though. Since nothing in the way of fancy fish is ever that simple, the scientific names and their corresponding identification is seldom tracked properly by a true breeder. On the other hand, that breeder will be able to tell you in excruciating detail how he/she went about creating a new strain of Xiphophorus with a particular fin growth pattern and color combination. Anyone who does not keep good records of what they do cannot get very far in developing a new strain, no matter how talented they may be in choosing the breeding parents.
As the BAP chair for my local club, I face the challenge of deciding whether or not to give someone credit for breeding a particular type of fish. If they tell me that they bred a pet shop molly, they will get credit for a pet shop molly. When they come back with another color pattern of a pet shop molly, I must turn them away. It is not breeding another species in the sense that Breeders Award Programs mean, it is merely repeating a breeding that they have already done, a pair of pet shop mollies. That does not detract from their effort but simply recognizes that they are doing something that is not new to them. They have already shown success breeding pet shop mollies. A case where I would need to recognize a new breeding would be if someone took readily available pet shop mollies and developed a whole new color strain of fin pattern from those fish. The thing we would recognize would not be that they managed to breed pet shop mollies but that they made something new form existing stock. That is a thing that few of us hobbyists ever tackle in earnest.
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CletePurcel
Fish Fanatic
Thanks for your really detailed reply. Very helpful.
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