Breeding Mollies
Mollies are dear to the hearts of many people, mainly because they are found in many of the waters of the southeastern and southern parts of the United States—for example, the waters around the Gulf of Mexico are infested with them. These "mudpussers," as they are affectionately called by the Floridians, are truly the fish for the amateur who is advanced enough to play with more interesting fish.
The reason for the complexity of the care of these fish is that they must be maintained in water that is slightly alkaline or somewhat salty. It is impossible to maintain the pH of the water at a certain level because regardless of how careful you are, there will be a certain amount of fluctuation. It is easier, and most frequently done, to maintain the pH if the fish are kept in a tank of their own to which some sea salt has been added (1 teaspoon per gallon). The reason for keeping mollies alone is that there are not many other types of fish that get along well with them and that can survive this radical pH. Since the mollies do not usually eat their own young if they are properly fed, the young can be left in the same tank as their parents; it is not too much trouble to keep them in a tank by themselves. Also, they do best in old water, so it is recommended never to change their water unless there is a good reason. As mollies come in many varieties (differing in color, shape or dorsal fin, etc.) and are often beautiful species, a separate tankful of different mollies is just as interesting as any community tank and is the best way to keep these fish healthy.
The male and female of this species are very nearly alike; the male has slightly more hue than the female, and since they are livebearers, the anal fin of the male is modified into an intromittent organ. Mollies of the same type are very nearly identical, not varying from one another as do the guppies.
The mollies like to eat algae, and algae are an important part of their diet. If there is not enough light for a profusion of algae, they should be fed finely chopped greens, lettuce probably being the best. There is no trick to breeding the mollies; they breed frequently, like the majority of livebearers. Since mollies have the ability to control to some extent the time they will drop their young, there is no set schedule that they follow, and the female should not be disturbed or removed to another tank to have her young. The temperature of the water has something to do with it: 73°F. gives the best results. Broods of mollies run up to 100, depending on the type of the molly. The young are free- swimming and will take small brine shrimp or daphnia immediately.
The sailfin, Poecilia latipinna, is really the true Florida molly that earned the name "mudpusser." It is the most common type of molly and usually the most inexpensive. This fish has a large dorsal fin (uppermost fin on the top of the back) that is sometimes as large as the body of the fish itself. It is a greenish color with black dots, closely resembling a striped bass. Sailfins breed more profusely than any other type of molly.
The sailfin has been interbred with many other types of mollies. The large dorsal fin seems to be a dominant characteristic because, in interbreeding the sailfin with other types of mollies, it has been found to breed true, while other characteristics of the original have disappeared. Successful crossbreeding between the guppy and the molly has also been reported.
Another popular type of molly is the black molly or midnight molly. This fish gets its name from its velvety black color and may belong to the previously mentioned species, the sailfin, or to the following one, since black strains of both these species are known.
A fish of increasing popularity is Poecilia sphenops. As their name, sphenops, implies, these fish have wedge- shaped faces and look quite pugnacious. The true sphe- flops is sometimes hard to distinguish from the other species of the genus. Color is no indication, as their color range is quite extensive, nor can they be recognized by their size and disposition, as these are also varied. (It is quite common for the commercial fish dealer to sell certain types of odd-sized or colored mollies for true sphenops.) About the easiest way to differentiate between the sphenops and the latipinna is by the location of the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin in sphenops is set toward the rear of the hump in the back, while in latipinna the dorsal fin is set in front of the hump. The sphenops are usually very good jumpers, but it has been the author's experience that they are not so desirable as the more peaceful members of their family. They have a nervous, tense disposition.
Since its development by Yam Ming in Singapore in 1954, the lyretail molly has become an established strain in every country of the world. Lyretail mollies are available in marble, green, black, chocolate, and albino varieties, and they certainly seem to be a dominant enough characteristic to be able to show themselves in early crossings with any established strain.
In Florida, where mollies are raised in huge dirt-bottomed pools, most major growers have found that they do well by dedicating a few dozen pools to the raising of various strains of lyretail mollies since the throwbacks are normal mollies in the particular strain to which that pool is entrusted. That means that a pool of black lyre- tail mollies will have throwbacks which will be black normal mollies, certainly a fish which can be sold and which will not harm the basic strain. Were the case that black lyretail mollies threw green babies as throwbacks, it would contaminate the basic strain.
As lyretail mollies grow older, they begin to lose the lyretail in many strains. It seems that the tail is most lyre-shaped when the fish is less than one year old. As the fish gets older, the tail gets fuller and the top and bottom extensions seem to atrophy and finally disappear.
There seems to be extensive sex reversal among lyre-tail mollies, more so than among normal blacks and greens. There are albino mollies with red eyes, but there are no red mollies in the same sense as red swordtails or red platies.
