Tag Archives: Molly

Poecilia (Mollienesia) sphenops Marble Ancient

19. October 2022

The livebearers are the backbone of aquaristics. The hobby would be unimaginable without Guppy, Platy, Molly and Co. We notice two trends in the breeding of these fish: one deals with the wild forms, which were very rare or not available at all in the trade; and the other develops new, colorful breeding forms, but without the fin enlargement that used to accompany them, so that the charm of the wild fish is preserved, just in colorful. Breeders in Asia refer to these wild-type-like animals as “ancient”, meaning “original”.

The short-finned Molly (the correct spelling would actually be Mollie, as the genus was named after a Mr. Mollien), which we can currently offer, is a prime example of a successful breeding form. The beautiful animals are insensitive and show the diverse behavior of the wild forms. The position in the rank order is shown in the males in the form of the yellow and black portion in the coloration. The higher the rank, the more contrasting the coloration of the fish!

For our customers: the animals have code 432182 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.

Lexicon: Mollienesia: dedication name in honor of Monsieur Mollien; the genus is currently generally considered a subgenus to Poecilia. sphenops: ancient Greek, means “pointed head”.

Suggested common name: Antique Molly

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Poecilia (Mollienesia) sphenops RED

9. September 2022

The breeders in Southeast Asia have realized a new color variation of the good old Black Molly, which they call “Red”. This is not a solid red fish, like for example a red swordtail, but the breeding form “Red” of the Molly has red spots in different intensity on the scales. When viewed from above, this is particularly noticeable because most fish have more of these red spots in the top three rows of scales. In addition, there is a red colored chest to varying degrees.

So that no rogue thinks that this red coloration is a product of Photoshop, we have photographed some of the long time known golden Mollies with the new “Red”. In direct comparison the difference is very clear.

The beautiful new “Red” are available in traditional shortfin and lyrafin.

For our customers: normal finned Molly “Red” have code 432152, lyra finned code 432154 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Poecilia sp. Central America

8. May 2020

Right now we can offer a very special delicacy for the friends of livebearers: a scientifically still undescribed wild molly!

It is a F1 offspring of a wild collected species from the Poecilia sphenops relationship. The parent animals were collected on a scientific expedition. The description of the species is in progress, so we have committed ourselves not to give any further information about the animals, in order not to endanger the scientific work. We have received about 50 specimens from our breeder. They are currently 4-5 cm long, but will probably grow a bit larger.

For our customers: the animals have code 280577 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Molly Copper Lyretail

14. March 2018

A beautiful sport of Molly from Singapore is Copper Lyretail, a very colourful variety. Obviously the species Poecilia sphenops formed the basis of that strain. The combination of the colour copper and the lyretail led to males in which the anal fin is much too broad to serve as a gonopodium. So the pure males of that strain cannot become fathers. To keep the sport alive it is necessary to cross the pure females with males from another sport that have a normal gonopodium. The offspring has to be selected, as it will not fall pure, or, in some cases, even a second step is necessary to obtain Copper Lyretails at all, eg a back cross or a sibling cross, to get specimens with the desired genetic combination.

While breeding Copper Lyretails is pretty demanding, keeping them is quite the opposite: these mollys are very hardy and lively fish!

For our customers: the  fish have code 432363 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer