Mollies and Platies and Swords, Oh My! - 04/20/2006
Hello WWM Crew,
<Hi, Chad!>
I've just spent much time scrolling through your pages on mollies, platies, and guppies.  Found lots of useful info on breeding, feeding, treating, what do to with fry, and sexing... but can't find - maybe I missed it - an answer to my question.  Is there a way to tell a molly from a platy from a female swordtail?
<Sure....  though differences may seem subtle until you've seen many of all.>
I have a Mickey and a twin-bar, both platies as I believe they're the only ones colored this way.  
<Can find some Mickey mouse swords, now, too.>
A few days ago I bought an all-white one and an all-red one.  They were labeled mollies at the pet store, but who knows if they even know.  They are all getting along and all look similar, if you ask me, except maybe for the fact that the new ones are slimmer, especially the red one, but it's smaller altogether.  I've seen pictures online of all-red platies, mollies, and swordtails.  Haven't seen an all-white platy yet.
<Hmm, where to start, and how not to make it more confusing....  Platies and swords have been heavily hybridized with one another over the years; you will be very hard-pressed to find a platy that hasn't been crossed with a sword or vice verse somewhere down the line.  Some platies even develop small "swords" on their tails.  Mollies aren't hybridized with either of these, and are usually very easy to tell apart.  They'll have sort of....  well, a different body shape....  kinda tough to describe.  I would recommend that you go to a few different fish stores and look long and hard at some of each of these types of fishes; you'll develop an eye for it in no time.>
Thanks for your time.
<Glad to be of service.>
-Chad Soucie
<All the best to you,  -Sabrina>

Xiphophorus maculatus
I was on the site looking for what kind of fish I had and I think this might be it Xiphophorus maculatus.  What is the non-scientific name of these fish?
<It is a platy, many different varieties.  check out http://fishbase.org >
I also believe that mine could be pregnant from the fish store.
How can I be sure my fish is pregnant? What signs can I look for?
<It is very possible that it is pregnant, a bulging belly is a good sign.  Careful though, if the scales are protruding from the body and it looks a little like a pine cone, it could be dropsy.  Check out the links below. -Gage
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm

Platies
I recently bought a few platies and I was wondering how you tell the difference between the male and females.
<normally the males are more colorful and have larger more attractive fins. the females are more drab in their coloration
and have short fins. IanB> thanks <<Mmm, and as livebearing toothed carps with internal fertilization, the males have modified anal fins (the one underneath their bodies, behind the "belly"). On males these are tube-shaped and on females they're fan-shaped in profile. RMF>>

Mickey Mouse spots
Hi Crew! You rule!
<Wow!  Thank you.>
I have a red female Mickey Mouse molly who is about 8 months old.
<Umm, do you perhaps mean a Mickey mouse platy?  I don't think mollies come with that particular pattern.>
The Mickey mouse shaped spot on her tail has been getting blurrier as she grows. When she was young, the spot was much clearer. Is this normal?
<Yes, quite.  Many fish gain or change color as they age, it is nothing at all to worry about.  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina.>