9 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful but males chase females constantly, so keep one male with three or more females.
131 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful but males chase females constantly, so keep one male with three or more females. Does best in hard, alkaline water with a little aquarium salt.
Spirulina flakes, algae wafers, blanched spinach and occasional frozen brine shrimp; needs regular vegetable matter.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Males have a gonopodium and a large, long, sail-like dorsal fin; females have a small dorsal fin and a normal anal fin.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Livebearer · Easy
Livebearer that breeds easily in hard water; keep 2+ females per male. Gestation is longer than in most livebearers (about 4-8 weeks), and fry are large and take brine shrimp nauplii or powdered flake from birth. Domestic strains eat their fry more than wild fish.
One male to three or four females in a 100 L+ tank.
Breeding box or heavily planted tank with floating plants or spawning mops; keep the water hard, warm and slightly salty.
Warm 26-28 C water, hard pH 7.5-8.5 and plenty of vegetable food.
10-100 live young per brood (FishBase); up to about 50 in the aquarium (Seriously Fish). Gestation 28 days (FishBase) to about 2 months (Seriously Fish).
Feed crushed spirulina flake and newly hatched brine shrimp; grow in hard, warm water with 1 tsp salt per 10 L. Fry grow slowly until 3 cm.
A livebearer of coastal fresh, brackish and salt water from North Carolina to Veracruz. Males carry a tall sail-like dorsal fin. Most shop sailfins are farmed colour strains, often crossed with other mollies.
French naturalist Charles Lesueur described the sailfin molly in 1821. It is the ancestor of many aquarium molly strains, including some black and golden forms.
First described by Charles A. Lesueur in 1821. Named for 'Latipinna' means broad fin.
16 facts checked with sources
Valid name; Mollienesia survives as a subgenus. Shop "sailfin", black, dalmatian, balloon and lyretail mollies are usually domestic strains, often hybrids of P. latipinna with P. sphenops and/or P. velifera rather than pure P. latipinna; wild-type fish are rare in the trade.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Poecilia latipinna · Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna · Wikipedia: Fancy molly (cites Balon 2006, Aqua 11(2): 47-87, and Schäfer 2022)Legacy has no family; sourced value recorded.
FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summarySeriously Fish 12.5 cm SL (used; legacy 12 is rounding). FishBase 15.0 cm TL for males, 10.0 cm TL for females, which is about the same fish measured with the tail.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna · FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summarySeriously Fish (preferred) 21-26; FishBase 20-28 would cover legacy 22-28. Subtropical species, so a cooler range than the legacy is right for long-term keeping.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna · FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summaryLegacy 7.2-8.5 sits inside Seriously Fish 7.0-8.5.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaLegacy has no hardness. Hard water matters more than salt.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna76 x 38 cm base x 30 cm height = 86.6 L, ~87 L as Seriously Fish states. Legacy 150 L is more generous than the sourced minimum.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaTrio of 1 male + 2 females; more females per male is better.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaPeaceful community fish for hard water; males spar with each other.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaNo source names a swimming level.
FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summaryLegacy 2 (moderate); Seriously Fish rates it Easy, provided water is hard and alkaline.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaLegacy has no range field.
FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summary · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Poecilia latipinnaLegacy "every 4-6 weeks" is shorter than Seriously Fish's ~2 months; FishBase gives 28 days.
Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna · FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summaryLegacy 20-60 fry every 4-6 weeks: brood range is within FishBase, but sources disagree on gestation; both listed.
FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summary · Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinnaLegacy says the male raises the sail in courtship displays; no fetched source covers courtship, so that part is unverified.
FishBase: Poecilia latipinna summary · Seriously Fish: Poecilia latipinna