My Mollies Are See Through?

[VespertineStar]

Hi

I have in my tank one orange molly and a lot of black ones too. At some point before I got them there must have been a white molly too because I have a few that are light coloured with black patches.

Anyways, in the last lot of babies that were born, several seem to be translucent with completely see through fins. I also got the usual black, spotted and orange tinted types. They appear to have very light brown/grey vertical bands and a silver underside. They also have a black line running front to back through their dorsal fin and have a slight blue "sheen" to them in certain light. The largest is about a centimeter and half including tail at the moment.

Also in the tank are neon tetras and a common plec.

 

[OldMan47]

Those sound like some interesting fish VespertineStar. When do we get to see the pictures?

 

[VespertineStar]

Yeah I thought they might just be immature silver throwbacks or something but most of my other mollies show full colour by the time they are 1.5-2cm and they don't look as silver as the pics I have seen of them. I tried to get a pic today but they are just too quick lol ; I'll keep trying to get some pics as they grow and see what I can get.

 

[Leeore]

My black sailfin has slowly began to develop transparent fin's aswell. So far the tip of his back fin and spot's on his sailfin. I find it to be odd


I wasn't able to find an answer, but hopefully you do!

 

[VespertineStar]

I managed to get a pic of one of the fish in question, it's not especially great or anything lol.

http/img217.imageshack.us/i/fish1.jpg/
http/img170.imageshack.us/i/fish2.jpg/

 

[OldMan47]

OK, I see what you mean about the color. Are you sure that you have a molly there? The fish looks more like a limia to me. I am aware that it is possible for a limia to cross with a molly so that may be what you are seeing.

 

[VespertineStar]

Oh right, errr, how do you tell the difference between the two? Are there any specific colours that Limia usually are so I can tell if any of my adults are Limia?

 

[OldMan47]

Several of the young limias that I have seen look a lot like the picture that you posted. There are a number of limia species that are common in the hobby and each has its own color patterns. You might want to try a Google and see what some of them look like. How about this one that I found on my first quick search of the Limia perugiae? Does it feel familiar to you?

 

[VespertineStar]

I have seen some similar to that in the tank with the fine black outlined scales. At a rough count I've seen about ten maybe, some with black spots, others without. A couple on Google images certainly do bear a striking resemblance to mine. I'm guessing then that this could be a hybrid? If so do I let them breed (if they can) or should I separate them from my other mollies? Can limias be bright orange or jet black as these are the only ones I've got in the tank other than one white with black spots. Is there a reliable way to tell them apart from mollies?