Lone Molly Conceived

[Lynden]

Hello, i have a ten gallon with guppies, and a few others. All of the fish in there, except the bettas and one guppy, are home-raised. There is 2 mollies in there, both female. Well, the problem is that one of them i suspect is pregnant. Could this be the secret to Molly-Guppy hybridizing? If not, what else could have happened?

-Lynden

 

[WILDER]

How long have you had her as they can store sperm for several months.

 

[morgan]

Hi, I bought two female Mollies and to my surprise they had loads of babies. I didn't even know at the time that fish had babies, I thought they laid eggs. That's what they taught us at school, they lied! My present Mollies are 3rd generation. I have given quite a few to lfs.

 

[Annastasia]

More then likely, they stored sperm. They can store sperm for up to 7 pregnancies, so unless you've had them alone for over a year, they are probably just storing sperm. Did you raise these Mollies too, or did you buy them? If you did raise them, how old are they?

 

[Lynden]

Oh god, do i look like an idiot? I know what you have told me

Like i said, all the fish in the tank were home-raised, except for a male guppy and a pair of bettas.
The mollies were born in saltwater, they were placed in freshwater after a month or two, the last of them, except for one, did not survive for some reason or another (being eaten, ect.). She grew out for about a month, while another batch was growing in saltwater. Of the four of these, 3 were given away, and i kept one black one. They were less than 3/4'' when they wre given away, so they could not have been conceived. The black female was placed in the tank with the silver female, the silver is around 1 1/2'' whil the black is around 1''. Neither of them have ever been in contact with a developed male molly, as they were all only around 1/2'', not yet mature. However, i recently noticed that the silver was gravid, or at least thats what it looks like.

Possible causes for this is accidental conception, as i have witnessed a male guppy almost penetrate the silver molly, but then back away.

So, is my molly brooding mutants? Or am I insane? Has anyone else had a situation like this, or read about one occuring?

Ill try to capture the babies, since the female retires, as if to give birth, occasionally.

Thanks,
-Lynden

 

[morgan]

Sorry, no insult to intelligence intended! When what I posted about happened to me I really had no idea it could happen. It was a nice surprise though. It will be interesting to see what your fry look like.

 

[Annastasia]

Heh, no offence intented. But you have to realize, there is absolutely no way for any of us to know exactly what you know. Unless you make a whole list of everything you know about Livebearers and then make us refer back to it every time we type a post out to you. It's better to tell you everything, whether you may know it or not, then risk thinking you know something and having it turn out you don't.

Maybe you will have hybrids. You'll have to see what happens if she gives birth. If she actually is pregnant.

 

[Lynden]

Sorry, no insult to intelligence intended!

Heh, no offence intented. But you have to realize, there is absolutely no way for any of us to know exactly what you know. Unless you make a whole list of everything you know about Livebearers and then make us refer back to it every time we type a post out to you. It's better to tell you everything, whether you may know it or not, then risk thinking you know something and having it turn out you don't.

Oh i didnt think you were insulting me! Your exactly right. That was a bit more of a joke anyways Thanks guys

I will atempt to isolate the fry. When they are born and i capture them, i will post what they look like. Maybe they'll look like a titanic guppy. I'll call it Poecilia gigas. Heh heh.

This may sound strange, but i actually have tremendous self-awareness, and by the time i post something, i usually have a good idea of all the possible answers. Unless its about an animal or something that i havent a clue about