Do guppies & platys crossbreed?

[Ratlova30]

I've heard all kinds of conflicting answers.

My community tank has platys in it and I've wanted to get some guppies but I've heard that most livebarers will crossbreed if kept together which I don't want obviously.

If they can be kept together without problems I will be looking for a single color strain of guppy to add to the tank if anyone has any(don't mixed strains)

 

[czeiszler]

It is mollies and Guppies that crossbreed platys are a different family and they cannot cross I looked into this awhile ago when i had some platys given to me.
Guppies are Poecilia reticulata
Endlers are Poecilia wingei
Mollies are Poecilia sphenops

Platies are Xiphophorus maculatus
Swordtails are Xiphophorus helleri

The Poecilia can crossbreed with each other and the Xiphophorus can crossbreed with each other, but Xiphophorus and Poecilia cannot crossbreed. So no, platies and guppies cannot crosbreed. It is a scientific impossibility as they are not closely enough related.

Livebearers are prolific fish and not too bright, so the males will attempt to breed with any female fish that looks about right. Male guppies will mate with any other livebearer. So will male mollies, platies and swordtails. That does not mean that the female will bear young from such a cross. There is a case in South America where guppies have nearly decimated a native population of smaller fish by mating with the females and rendering them infertile due to the relatively large size and incompatible shape of their gonopodium. Also, although guppies and mollies can crossbreed, the fry from such crosses are not very viable and rarely live to adulthood.

 

[Ratlova30]

Thanks Carol. The only guppies I've ever had were feeder guppies and I gave them away as food. I don't know they've never caught on with me but I thought I would give it another go.

 

[czeiszler]

No problem. My husband loves our guppies. When he was a kid he had a tank full. So thats the first fish we started with. Hope it works out and you enjoy your guppies...

 

[Ratlova30]

My first fish was a betta, a friend gave it to my mom and she was going to flush it but I walked in before she could. I named him Finny because I thought he was waving to me.

 

[mrsashleyodell]

I once saw a fish at Clark's Feed and Seed in Bellingham that looked like a guppy/platy hybrid. I asked one of the employees, who brought over another couple of employees, and they all agreed that is what it looked like. They said they'd never seen something like it before. Of course I'll never know for sure, but it was very interesting looking.