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• Livebearers

  • Guppies
  • Molly Fish
  • Fancy Mollies - Hybrids Poecilia
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  • Sail Fin Mollies - Poecilia latipinna
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• My Sick Fish

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  • List by Symptom

Popular Molly Hybrids Fancy Mollies (Hybrids Poecilia) Lyretail Molly Metallic Molly Dalmatian Molly Gold Dust Molly Platinum Lyretail Molly Pot Belly Mollies (Hybrids Poecilia) Balloon Mollies Assorted Colors Sail Fin Mollies (Poecilia latipinna) Dalmatian Sail Fin Molly Sail Fin Metallic Molly

General Information/Facts

Principal habitats of the Sailfin Molly are edges of streams, ponds, canals, and swamps with heavy vegitation. Native range occurs along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast drainages from Cape Fear drainage, North Carolina, to Veracruz, Mexico. Restricted to coastal areas in most of range; found farther inland in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

Diet/Food & Feeding Habits

Sailfin Mollys are omnivorous and requires both meaty foods as well as algae. Provide these fish with an algae-based flake food, as well as freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp.

Compatibility/Tankmates:

Gouramis, other livebearers, peaceful cichlids, Corydoras. Sometimes they will attempt to chase others around a bit, but do not hurt them in most instances. Mollies do best in a group with a few males and several females. Mollies are good tank mates for Swordtails, Platies, Angel Fish, Corydoras, Plecostomus, and bigger Tetras such as Black Tetra, Red Serpaes, and Silver Tips.

Sexing:

The males will have a pointed anal fin (gonopodium) and the females will have a rounded anal fin.

Breeding/Spawning:

Live-bearing aquarium fish, often simply called livebearers are fish that retain the eggs inside the body and give birth to live, free-swimming young.

Coloration:

The sailfin molly is a small species, seldom exceeding 12.5 cm (5 inches) in length (Robins and Ray 1986); however it can attain lengths of 15 cm (6 inches) (Rohde et al. 1994). The sailfin molly is sexually dimorphic; males have a longer, higher sail-like dorsal fin that lies close to the fish and that can be extended like a sail. Females have a smaller rounded dorsal fin (Boschung and Mayden 2004). Both sexes have a small head and are a light gray to olive along the sides and lighter on the belly. The body is laterally compressed with five rows of spots on the side that may appear as stripes (Page and Burr 1991). The caudal peduncle is deep in both sexes (Boschung and Mayden 2004). Breeding males turn more greenish and frequently have iridescent aqua and orange accents on the tail. Mature females are more heavy-bodied than are males, particularly those with distended belly containing developing young (Boschung and Mayden 2004).

Maintenance:

The salt tolerance of mollies allows them to live in water ranging from completely freshwater to completely marine, which makes mollies potentially compatible with a wide range of setups. This is fairly unusual, as most fish are compatible with only freshwater, brackish water or that of only saltwater environments. This ability allows mollies to live in a variety of coastal environments.

An overcrowded tank will lead to stunted growth and the male may not develop their beautiful sailfin. There are several color variations including the Albino, Black, Red, and Green hybrids. Often P. velifera and P. latipinna crosses are sold. The only way to distinguish P. velifera from P. latipinna is that P. velifera has 18-19 rays on its dorsal fin, while P. latipinna only has 14.