Molly Hybrid With Mosquito Fish

[fish48]

This thread is 8 years old

yes I know a new post was recently made

 

[HoldenOn]

yes I know a new post was recently made

True, but OP hasn't been on since 2012.

 

[Essjay]

I think fish48 want to see photos of the fish in the post made yesterday regardless of how old the thread is. Then he'd be able to say whether or not they really are hybrids.

 

[itiwhetu]

My brain is saying that this is not possible

 

[Essjay]

My thoughts as well. That's why we need photos

 

[emeraldking]

This is an old thread indeed. But I can be very simple about the topic itself. Mollies can´t breed with a gambusia (whatever kind). Note that there are plain and spotted looking versions of Gambusias. Why can't a molly be crossed with a gambusia species? Their genitals are simply not compatible. A male of one kind may chase and put his gonopodium in her direction but no actual mating will take place. Gambusias (where mosquito fish belong to) are no Poecilia species. But they do belong to the Poeciliidae family. That's something different!
With this being told, if a livebearer species belong to the Poeciliidae family, they can not crossbreed with every other member of the Poeciliidae family. It depends on how close they're related and more important if their sexual organs are compatible with eachother or not. There's no other explaination than this.
Poecilia is a genus, just like Gambusia or Xiphophorus, etc... But Poecilia is not the same as Poeciliidae. Poeciliidae is a family (order).
And again: mosquito fish come in plain and spotted phenotypes. Doesn't have anything to do with dalmation mollies. If a female dalmation molly drops fry and no male molly has been around, she must have had sperm packets of one or more former matings stored. The fry will be just mollies. Same goes the other way around if it would concern an female mosquito fish. The genitals of both species are just not designed for an actual interbreeding between thse two species.

 

[two_wheeled]

Hello, I know this is an old post (sorry! apologies! I wanted someone in a google search to be able to see this)
I won't add more to it except to say that I have gambusia (mosquito fish) and dalmation mollies that have definitely inter-bred and I have at least one, maybe two, hybrid in my outdoor tank. I will create a new post with photos.

 

[emeraldking]

Hello, I know this is an old post (sorry! apologies! I wanted someone in a google search to be able to see this)
I won't add more to it except to say that I have gambusia (mosquito fish) and dalmation mollies that have definitely inter-bred and I have at least one, maybe two, hybrid in my outdoor tank. I will create a new post with photos.

I've replied on the other topic. And explained why they can not crossbreed in a natural way.

 

[GaryE]

To expand a little, livebearer males have hooks on their gonopodiums, and what doesn't fit, doesn't work. It isn't just dna or fertility, it's an impossible act.

To convince anyone, you will have to start with a photo of an adult. A female molly can store sperm packets for a year or so. A dalmation is a linebred hybrid, and not a natural species, so some variation among the young is possible. They generally breed true, but not always. She could breed with other types of mollies. Do you know which type of male she could have been running with a year or more ago, given that you say you have juveniles at this point?

There are so many factors that can confuse a breeder of these fish. Don't worry, I don't think you're an unethical or unskilled breeder producing hybrids. I think your rep is safe and the answer lies within the molly.

 

[emeraldking]

livebearer males have hooks on their gonopodiums

Not all males of ovoviviparous livebearers have hooks. But most do. There are also species where the male's got a smooth tip of the gonopodium. Such males don't have a courtship. And most of the time with such males, they do have a long shaped gonopodium. Also the structure of the gonopodium differ per species. Only if the sexual organs are compatible enough, a natural mating is possible.
All the rest you've mentioned is something I certainly do agree with...

You and I know that because of the different structures, shape and number of hooks, you need a female that's compatible with it. For also the female's sexual organ is structured to the shape of the gonopodium of a male of her own kind (or closely related species). A lot of people think that as long as there's a gonopodium, that each random ovoviviparous livebearer male can crossbreed with another ovoviviparous livebearer species. Which isn't true, of course...

And to those who didn't know this: A male viviparous livebearer doesn't have a gonopodium but an andropodium. Only male ovoviviparous livebearers have a gonopodium.