Help ID this stow-away?

[GuppyNamedOscar]

Hi, all. I bought what I thought was a bunch of guppies, and when I dropped them in my quarantine tank, I was surprised to see this little party crasher among them. Is he a molly or platy, possibly? Or is it a just a rather plain adult female guppy? S/he's much larger than the others, but they are still very young and small. The rest of the new fish slept in one adorable bundle on the substrate last night, and this guy was in the furthest corner, alone. Wondering if I should return to LFS or go back for friends? I may be falling for an elaborate plot to sell more fish, lol!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

99% Sure it's a platy - any chance of a better photo that shows the fins on his/her underside more clearly please, to be sure of sex?


While I like the idea of it being a cunning plan to sell more fish, it's likely just that the platies were in that tank before the guppies, he was what was left when guppies were added, employee didn't notice this one sneaking around pretending to be a guppy! Or possible s/he jumped from a neighbouring tank into the guppy tank, either in the store or at the fish farm.


Whether to get friends or not, partly depends on if you want to/can handle fry or not!
ETA: Whoops, I meant to tag our livebearer expert @emeraldking , he'll know for sure, exact variety and everything

 

[GuppyNamedOscar]

Thanks. I'm struggling to get good pictures of transparent fins! Here's a few attempts.

 

[GuppyNamedOscar]

Actually, does she have a gravid spot?

 

[Naughts]

In the new pictures the markings and shape (the dorsal if towards the back), don't look like a platy, more like a limia. Emeraldking will tell us when he's on. It looks male to me.

 

[emeraldking]

It's a platy. With the anal fin clamped, I can not see wether it's a male or a female. The spot on the belly area could be a gravid spot or a pseudo gravid spot. A close up from the side would give more information.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I think it's a male, anal fin looks a bit pointy, but it's really hard to tell when it's clamped and fins are so transparent, and I wouldn't bet my life savings on it! @GuppyNamedOscar you'll need to tell whether it's male or female yourself, I think, since you can sit by the tank and watch for the moments s/he unclamps the anal fin. Diagram of male/female anal fins below! The "gravid spot" might be a pseudo gravid spot like @emeraldking said, so not proof it's a female sadly. The anal fin is much more reliable. They often clamp it as they swim around, just to make it harder, lol. But if you sit by the tank for a bit until the fish calm and forget you're there, you should be able to spot it. Or if you sit and watch after feeding the tank. They'll often relax their fins then.

 

[GuppyNamedOscar]

Thanks, everyone. I was more concerned with what type it is and just curious about sex. Sounds like we have a platy!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thanks, everyone. I was more concerned with what type it is and just curious about sex. Sounds like we have a platy!

True, but knowing the sex is important if you do plan to get any friends for him! If he's male, he'll need to be kept either only with other males, or females will need to outnumber the number of males, so the males don't stress them to death because they tend to be s*x pests! But adding females also means you'll get a lot of fry, and that can be a nightmare for overstocking a tank, and trying to find homes for them all, so that's why you need to know before buying any buddies to keep him/her company

 

[FishandBirdLover]

Gorgeous little platy!

 

[NearMeBettas]

You will want to get a few more, they like friends.