A Mated Pair Of Mollies?

[campbellmay]

I've never heard of this happening before, but it appears that my two gold dust mollies have formed a "mated pair." When I bought them, they were the only two mollies left in the tank, and since then they never seem to want to leave each other's side.

I have another female molly in the tank, but the gold dust male acts as if she doesn't exist. He sticks right next to the gold dust female, and if he goes off on his own, she quickly stops what she's doing to follow him. It's the funniest molly behavior I've ever seen.

Has anyone seen mollies do this before? I was under the impression that livebearers preferred to copulate whenever, wherever, and with whomever. Apparently my male didn't get the memo.

Look, I even have some photographic evidence, lol:

Down in the right corner

Side by side

Little blobs of love

Just had to share, they're just too funny.

 

[nmonks]

Mollies don't really form "pairs" in the sense cichlids do (for example). In fish that form pairs, the two parents act together to guard the eggs and fry. Natural selection tends to favour males going off with multiple females (since sperm is cheap to produce, males don't need to be picky). So where males and females work together, it must be because if the male abandoned the female, the brood would not survive. Pairs are ways for both fish to test each other (the pre-mating behaviours) and then ensure that each partner will remain faithful long enough to raise the brood. We have to be a little careful about assigning human emotions to these behaviours because animals don't work in quite the same way as humans; but on the other hand, there's ample evidence that a lot of human sexual and family behaviour is exactly and precisely comparable to that exhibited by other animals!

What male livebearers may do is assure potential matings by driving off other males. This is why male mollies fight when kept together with females: the dominant male tries to monopolise all the females in the group. With my halfbeaks, one male tries to keep all the females within his territory and attacks any other males he can see. My guess is that the male is guarding the female in this way, not realising that there aren't other males about, or else mistaking other fish (e.g. platies or guppies) as potential rival suitors.

Mollies are sociable fish, so there may simply be an element of schooling behaviour, too, particularly if these fish were stressed in the tank they were originally held in. This would certainly explain why the female follows the male, and vice versa.

It'll be interesting to see how this behaviour develops. Fish do have differing personalities, even species considered "stupid" by cichlid or pufferfish standards.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. Nice tank, by the way.

 

[donna123]

Hi,
ive had platy that have been a pair before,
even though he had six others to choose from he only had eyes for his girlfriend.
all tha best donna

 

[dwarfgourami]

I have known a platy male to be sexually uninterested in a female of different colouring from himself and sticking only to the female that looked like him.

 

[campbellmay]

Mollies don't really form "pairs" in the sense cichlids do (for example).

Lol, I know. Alas. They especially show no interest in caring for there young, as their were only 3 survivors from their first brood yesterday. Ah well. I suppose I was just glad for some abnormal molly behavior until I get some real cichlids, lol. But I appreciate the extra info on actual pairs...I really enjoy learning the motives behind certain fish behaviors. They really are such fascinating creatures, though many people don't realize it.

Mollies are sociable fish, so there may simply be an element of schooling behaviour, too, particularly if these fish were stressed in the tank they were originally held in. This would certainly explain why the female follows the male, and vice versa.

It's funny you mention that, because when I bought them the bag they were first put into had no bottom, strangely, and they fell on the floor. The girl rescued them quickly and I got them anyway since they were the last ones left (the store has a guarantee), and they've been perfectly all right, but I wonder if that had anything to do with their attachment.

PS. Nice tank, by the way.

Thank you. I switched from ugly blue gravel to sand last weekend, and though it was a huge mess, it ended up looking much nicer in the end and was worth it.

 

[ICEEGRL]

Hi
I have had 2 male mollies that chose a mate out of several. They were always the same color, and they would not pay attention to the others. Mine stayed together till they died.

 

[xostrawberryox]

The poor lil things! Getting dropped on the floor, i'm suprised they weren't harmed at all!