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Amazon mollies have a small dorsal fin consisting of 10-12 soft rays. [9] The position of the dorsal fin on the back of the fish is anterior, closer towards the head, than the position of the anal fin on the underside of the fish. They do not have any spiny rays on their fins. [10]
Mollies browsing algae in an estuary. P. vandepolli prefers to feed on unicellular and other small algae, [3] [4] biofilm, and aquatic insects. [4] When food becomes scarce, Van de Poll's mollies may take plankton and Artemia. Stomach content analyses show that cannibalistic adults eat fry when food is lacking. [3]
Poecilia sphenops, called the Mexican molly or simply the molly, is a species of poeciliid fish from Central America. It was once understood as a widespread species with numerous local variants ranging from Mexico to Venezuela, but these variants are today considered distinct species belonging to the P. sphenops complex and P. sphenops itself as being native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Livebearers are fish that retain their eggs inside the body and give birth to live, free-swimming young. They are especially prized by aquarium owners. They are especially prized by aquarium owners. Among aquarium fish, livebearers are nearly all members of the family Poeciliidae and include: guppies , mollies , platies and swordtails .
Sailfin mollies produce broods of 10–140 live young, depending on maturity and size, and females may store sperm long after the demise of their relatively short-lived mates. The gestation period for this species is about three to four weeks, depending upon temperature, and a single female may give birth on multiple occasions throughout the year.
A pregnant Southern platyfish. Pregnancy has been traditionally defined as the period of time eggs are incubated in the body after the egg-sperm union. [1] Although the term often refers to placental mammals, it has also been used in the titles of many international, peer-reviewed, scientific articles on fish.
The most commonly kept species are guppies (P. reticulata), mollies (P. sphenops or P. latipinna), and Endler's livebearers . Members of the genus readily hybridize with each other and so most commercially offered fish are hybrids (with guppies having some Endler, and mollies being a mix of common and sailfin mollies).
Like other Poecilia, they are prone to hybridization with their relatives. Not infrequently, crosses are attempted with the sailfin molly to breed a hardier fish. This is generally not very successful, and should not be attempted, as purebred Yucatan mollies are often quite hard to find, and hybrids will not have as massive dorsal fins as these.