platy genetics

[Kittycat]

Is anyone here familiar with color and fin genetics of platies? What happens if the regular platy breeds with variatus? And if different color types interbreed (e.g. blue x sunset)? Do you get fry that look like either parents, or will you get funny-looking half-baked mixtures of both?

 

[Def]

Difficult question, it can't be answered like that. Cross breeding platys normally produces a majority of fry that look like the mother, with some of the father's charateristics (for example, I have a blue neon that managed to breed with a sunset, giving fry with blue neon charateristics but some with red dorsal and caudal fins). You do get some real odd looking mixtures, which is why you should try and avoid cross breeding varieties. It's important to maintain the distinction.

 

[Spilk]

I used to cross breed plattys and swordtails because I really wanted a male swordtail pinapple body with black fins and a mickey mouse on his butt. I got one eventually, and the offspring always seemed healthier than the purebred fish?

Most fry batches either looked exactly like the mother, exactly like the father, or like tabby cats with a crazy pattern of colors--but the crazy color patterns only happened after a WHOLE lot of interbreeding amongst each other, 11th or 12th generation I think?

 

[Jen]

I had a blue coral male breed with a sunset female (lovely orange to deep red). The babies (1 year old) are all a light yellow to orange mix. the only male in the bunch is covered in black spots. No idea where that came from.

 

[Kittycat]

That's interesting. So the females contribute more traits to the offspring produced...? Therefore a blue female x sunset male will produce more blue babies than sunset female x blue male?

I have blue regular platies, I want hifin blue platies, but the only hifins I ever saw available are sunset variatus...

 

[Def]

That's very interesting. I believe hifin is a gene somewhere in the blue neons, because i regularly get hifin blue neon fry, even though the parents aren't hifins...

 

[GuppyDude]

frytend to follow the mothers side, but due to the interbreeding of swordtails into the gene pool it makes it all really hard to figure out, experimenting is the best way to figure it out

 

[Angry_Platy]

I guess you could compare it to humans.....a blonde hair lady breeds with a black haired man, the baby/s won't have hair with black and blonde strands.

Talking genetics, there will be dominant colours and patterns in platies...I read somewhere that red wag is dominant over yellow wag say...and that platies with twinbars are "generally" yellow...I use inverted commas since red twinbars can exist but are mUCh rarer.

 

[Kittycat]

That's very interesting. I believe hifin is a gene somewhere in the blue neons, because i regularly get hifin blue neon fry, even though the parents aren't hifins...

Really? This site has an article on hifins, acc. to the writer, the non-hifin platies don't carry hifin genes even if they're from hifin parents
http/www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/5640/Library/hoyt.htm
(I'm not sure about the rules re: posting links to other sites here. If I'm violating any, I'm very sorry and please delete or tell me to)

Maybe there's still hope for my blue ones, we'll see when the fry gets older.

 

[TorPeteO]

If it's like genetics in most other animals, there will be some of all categories; some mix, some like the mother, some like the father. It all depends on dominant and co-dominant traits and stuff like that. I don't know what kind of colourations/fin variations are dominant, although I have a feeling something like hi-fin wouldn't be.

 

[Angry_Platy]

although I have a feeling something like hi-fin wouldn't be.

I am pretty sure that high fin is dominant. But to get a high fin platy you need one of the fgish to be high fin. Also, high fin livebearers are more likely to be swordies than platies. whether or not they breed with each other is a matter of come contention (I WISH MINE WOULD!!!)

I am trying to get my white platy to breed with my sundet highfin platy. I *want* the fry to be either a white high fin platy or a sunset platy with black spots near its tail.

They aren't participating in my breeding "program" though for some obscure reason

 

[Kittycat]

Angry platy, which one is the father and which is the mother?

 

[Angry_Platy]

Sunset highfin=female

White platy=male

They still won't cooperate.....he prefers my twinbar girl

Hmmmmmm....are white twinbar platies possible?