MOLLY ASSORTED (Poecilia sphenops) LG

A hugely popular aquarium fish. Many aquarium-bred colour morphs of this species are available, including the ubiquitous black molly. There are also Gold, Green, Lyretail, Silver and Dalmation varieties. Some of these are the results of P. sphenops being crossed with P. latipinna. The 2 species will also interbreed readily in the aquarium and in order to avoid this we suggest keeping only one of them per tank. There also exists a (in our opinion) grotesque ‘balloon’ variety of this fish in which the body is malformed and rounded, giving a balloon-like appearance. This condition can cause swimbladder and digestive problems and may bring about premature death.

In the wild form this fish is very hardy but years of inbreeding and over-production have resulted in many of the mollies available in the hobby today being very weak genetically and prone to disease. This is particularly true of the common black morph.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-sphenops/