Mothers Day Special: Mollies, Benefits and Facts

The Molly is truly an aquarists delight because it's colorful, active, peaceful, and hardy!
The Mollies have been beloved in the aquarium hobby for decades. For over a century the Common, Sailfin, and Mexican Sailfin Mollies have held the position of being some of the most popular fish because of their many good qualities. These are undemanding, brightly colored fish with a good temperament. What more could you ask for!

Mollies are strictly American fish, found particularly around Central America and the Southern United States. While there are many fish in the genus found in the wild, three have been kept in the aquarium hobby for decades. These are the Common or Short-finned Molly Poecilia sphenops, the Sailfin or Topsail Molly Poecilia latipinna and the Mexican Sailfin Molly Poecilia velifera, also called the Giant Sailfin or Yucatan Molly.

The first Molly was introduced to the hobby 1899 and hybrids began being produced in the 1920's. While all three species possess amazing wild coloration, hybridization and cross breeding haven given us a multitude new variations.

One of the most beloved is the Black Molly, a striking fish with pure jet black coloration. Some of the most unusual types of mollies are the Balloon Mollies, which were bred to be extremely short and round. In most aquarium stores you will find Mollies in orange, rust, silver, black, green, gold and combinations of some or all of these.