We got this very nice Poecilia latipinna during a recent collecting trip to Mustang Island. I wrote about the trip in a previous blog.
Pictured is a young male and a young female. The male will undoubtedly be spectacular when he matures. The other young males collected are just as nice. They are the prettiest wild mollies I’ve ever seen. They were caught in a freshwater drainage ditch in Port Aransas, a coastal town sitting at the northern end of the island. In a single seine net pass we got 38 young mollies. We stopped at that point due to limited time and space for the fish.
We will be returning shortly to get more of them since Siegen University in Germany wants quite a few for research purposes. And, I want more for breeding.
I intend to begin breeding this fish and should have it available for distribution in about three months.
Poecilia latipinna ranges naturally from the Carolinas around Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan. It has been introduced into many other locations. There is some dispute about whether the inland populations in Texas’ Hill Country springs are natural or introduced. I suspect they are natural since the species is found in the rivers originating in the springs. Someday I plan to begin collecting at San Antonio Bay and up the Guadalupe River to Comal Springs and San Marcos Springs to see if the molly distribution is continuous. If it is, that’s good evidence the inland populations are natural.
kb1jli says
Got any extra female mollies from that trip your willing to sell?
charles says
Not just yet, but we are going back next month to collect more and will have some then.
Marc Hall says
Did you collect any samples that I could purchase from you?
charles says
Marc, Sorry for the tardy reply. I’m just learning how to keep up with Facebook. We have extra wild caught fish and F1 fry.
Chris Stevens says
Awesome collection! They look a lot like the mollies I collected in Louisiana last November. I am curious, what was your method of transporting your collection back home with that many fish?
On a side note the one’s that I did collect, lately the one male seems to be protective of only one particular female that was with the bunch. He swims around her raising his fin sometimes and chases the others away from them constantly and breeds with her. I have other females in with him but he does not seem interested. He is very protective of his female companion. Have you ever encountered this monogamous behavior?
charles says
Chris,
I not sure I responded to you. I’m very illiterate when it comes to Facebook. But my staff insists I get better at it, so here goes.
I carry an oxygen cylinder with a regulator along. The cylinder and regulator are pricey, but oxygen is cheap. The fish are placed in plastic fish bags about 1/4 full. Oxygen is then squirted in to fill the bag. The bags are placed in Styrofoam boxes with lids to keep the fish in the dark.
As to monogamous mollies, I have noticed that males often have favorites, usually the largest female.
Katrina says
I was directed here by someone on the NANFA forums. I am in the Texas Hill Country area (Luling, San Marcos) and have found a colony of mollies living in the shallow reedy area of a well-pond in Palmetto State Park on Ottine. The large adult males (over 3 inches) had very colorful fins, which I am not finding in any of my image searches. Golden orange and blue on the tail and dorsal fins, along with some black.
I was able to collect one large colored female (orange patch on back and dorsal) and a couple young males with some coloration on the fins, along with many plain females.
Palmetto Park at Ottine features natural springs and wells, the water from one burbling up, flowing to a shallow area that houses many gambusia, frogs, and these mollies, then flowing into a wide, shallow pond where people can fish for sunfish and small bass, then down into an oxbow lake that feeds into the San Marcos River.
charles says
Katrina, I’m sorry for the late reply. I’m not very Facebook literate.
Our native molly is Poecilia latipinna, the green sailfin molly. It is the most cold hardy of the mollies, most of which are from Mexico and Central America. I’m sure that’s the species you found. There is a dispute about P. latipinna’s original range. Some authors posit they are only natural along the coast and that inland populations are introduced. I’m skeptical. The fish seems to be found continuously from the coast to the springs in central Texas. It seems unlikely to me that they failed to colonize the Guadalupe River above Victoria until a population was introduced into Comal Springs, which population then colonized down river. I suspect the populations in the springs along the Balcones fault are native.
By the way, Palmetto Park is very nice and unappreciated.
josue says
I’ve been looking to get wild mollies fish. You know where to get some in san marcos.
charles says
Josue,
Mollies are common in the San Marcos River, but are easier to net in the back channels just upstream of the I-35 bridge. There is an introduced population of the all female species, Poecilia formosa, also know as the Amazon molly.
Charles
josue says
Where exactly so I can go catch some. How do you know where to find these fish?
charles says
If you are asking about P. formosa, go to Rio Vista Park on Cheatham Street in San Marcos. On the east bank of the river, start at the small dam and walk upstream until reach a small channel that crosses Cheatham St. Follow it and on the right you’ll see a mud bottom pool. Try seining it and you should get some.