The Beginning Of Dwarf Platies

[drango91]

i was wondering how a dwarf platy actually came to be, and i kept to research in the forums, when there are many fry in a contained area being grown in their for a long period of time, the fry will release chemechals to be the dominant species by stunting the growth of the other platies, could the dwarf been made liek that, GM by nature then bred over and over again?

 

[Spader]

just mate breed every smallest platy u have and they will eventually get smaller and smaller. thats what they do to dogs someitmes.

 

[Annastasia]

Line-breeding a certain trait. Take your two smallest fish, and breed them, then the two smallest fry from them, then the 2 smallest fry from them..etc. Dwarf Platies seem pretty hardy though, despite the inbreeding. I'm guessing they had to inbreed a bit to get the line started, but I could be wrong.

 

[guppymommy]

How do you know if you have a dwarf platy? I have a male that is red and really small and I have a painted female that is really small, but I'm not sure how old they are or if they are dwarf or not. How do you know for sure?

 

[Spader]

lol im not sure..... some labled as dwarfs actually become large.

 

[benny25]

I have a platy...fry I guess you could call him, who hasn't grown in a long time. He is at least 3 months old is still a little under an inch long. All my other platy fry grew up by now. Both the parents are normal sized, so is he a genetic fluke and does that make him a dwarf?

I should also add he is very healthy and even tried to seduce another female in the tank.

 

[dwarfgourami]

i was wondering how a dwarf platy actually came to be, and i kept to research in the forums, when there are many fry in a contained area being grown in their for a long period of time, the fry will release chemechals to be the dominant species by stunting the growth of the other platies, could the dwarf been made liek that, GM by nature then bred over and over again?

Stunting the growth post-birth should not produce a genetic trait that can be handed on to ones children. Unless the hormones actually affect the genetic makeup, which I don't know if they can do. If I have my leg amputated, that wouldn't make me have one-legged children. It is more likely to be produced through careful selection of the naturally, genetically smallest specimens of a batch.

 

[Thuggerz]

Hi all, i've got a batch of 9 plattys which are over a year old and one of them is half the size of a neon tetra...not sure why

 

[drango91]

well thats good to know sorta sad that i wont be putting platies in my 29 gallon tank when i get the money for it, but atleast i got a 10 gal devoted to them

 

[sylvia]

Stunting the growth post-birth should not produce a genetic trait that can be handed on to ones children. Unless the hormones actually affect the genetic makeup, which I don't know if they can do. If I have my leg amputated, that wouldn't make me have one-legged children. It is more likely to be produced through careful selection of the naturally, genetically smallest specimens of a batch.

You are correct - and the hormones would not affect the platy's genetic make-up.

My take on dwarf platies is that, in fact, they were not originaly bred deliberately. You have only to look at the fancy varieties of guppy and swordtail (and platy) to see that these fish tend to invariably be smaller. It's just something that tends to happen to fish when they are inbred (people tend to inbreed their fish when trying to establish a characteristic 'strain' hence why the fancy ones are the smallest). There are a few exceptions where care was taken to keep the size - but usualy size is ignored in favour of color/pattern (most noteably in guppies). It would then be easy to pick out 'small' platies (or another livebearer) and breed them together and then label them as a 'new' 'dwarf' variety to attract the buyers' attentions. The fact that these offspring come from a multitude of independent 'strains' at this point, might account for why they are still quite hardy.

Of course, that's just speculation and assumes 'dwarf' platies are actualy different to 'normal' ones I've always had an inkling that, in fact, they are just standard platies with a fancy name - kind of like labelling sparkling gouramies as 'pygmy croaking gouramies' or calling dyed tetras 'fruit loops'...