what is this color called?
- Thread starter fiddlybits
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Wouldn't it be "variati" not "variatuses"? 
Just teasing you, Newman! I'm hoping to explore those endless color variations available with the variatus pattern by breeding my female sunset corals to my male dawn (also seen it called "parrot") platy, and my female marigold variatus to the dawn and/or the sunset corals. Should be fun, especially now that I have two fry (just need them to get big enough that I can tell their gender).
Just teasing you, Newman! I'm hoping to explore those endless color variations available with the variatus pattern by breeding my female sunset corals to my male dawn (also seen it called "parrot") platy, and my female marigold variatus to the dawn and/or the sunset corals. Should be fun, especially now that I have two fry (just need them to get big enough that I can tell their gender).
Yeah, she looks about shaped like my marigold variatus, just a different color combo. She could have some "regular" platy blood in her veins, which gives her her body shape. Which, btw, my male dawn/parrot platy is WAY bigger than my female margild variatus (my female sunset coral dwarfs are bigger than my male sunset coral dwarfs). Anyway, as Newman said, it's probably a mutt (mixed platy and variatus), but the color is a variatus coloring. You did ask color, not breed, and technically variati and platies are the same breed, just different variations of it.
I'm not convinced that she's a mutt, because of the others like her. They had Variatus in a different tank, and they had a different, longer, shape. She has produced babies at least twice that I know of (a few times the fry were eaten before I could collect them) and her surviving babies were colored like her. She probably was pregnant when I got her. My male is a Sunset. He's courting her now, so this could produce some interesting mutts. ;-)
Oh! Keep me updated on the colors of your babies! I want to try mixing my sunset coral dwarfs with my male dawn/parrot (I put both because apparently the color goes by both names) and my male sunset coral dwarf with my marigold variatus to see what colors I can get. Hehe! Listen to me...planning on ways to breed my son's fish. I can't wait until my two fry (one sunset coral and one variatus) are old enough to sex so I can see about starting my "breeding program," so to speak.
I can't wait until my two fry (one sunset coral and one variatus) are old enough to sex so I can see about starting my "breeding program," so to speak.
It describes the color, as far as I know. The term variatus means variagated (in Latin, I believe? I could be wrong about that) and refers to the fact that the main part of their body is one color while the tail fin and underside of their body is another. They are just a color variation of platies, though, NOT a separate species, regardless of any differences in body type that arise.
Platies - Moonfish, Variegated Platy, Variatus Platy
Platies - Moonfish, Variegated Platy, Variatus Platy
So far the babies I have saved from this female are all her color. I have a dozen two-month old fry in the tank now, and in a previous birth I saw two like her but I wasn't able to save them. It will be interesting to see what happens from mating with the Sunset male, also in the picture. The orange fry is from another female.
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So far the babies I have saved from this female are all her color. I have a dozen two-month old fry in the tank now, and in a previous birth I saw two like her but I wasn't able to save them. It will be interesting to see what happens from mating with the Sunset male, also in the picture. The orange fry is from another female.
Sorry about the multiple posts! A Variatus is a type of Platy. They are closely related to Swordtails. Platys/Swords/Variatus can interbreed and some strains definitely have a mixed background. All can come in a lot of colors. The main differences I have seen in Variatus are:
-the size: Variatus are about 1/4 inch longer at maturity than Platys, but built more streamlined,
- the color: Variatus often have a 'net' pattern along with their color, caused by each scale having a darker edge.
There may be other differences, but I don't know.
-the size: Variatus are about 1/4 inch longer at maturity than Platys, but built more streamlined,
- the color: Variatus often have a 'net' pattern along with their color, caused by each scale having a darker edge.
There may be other differences, but I don't know.
Picture of a Variatus female and a Platy male- you can see he looks deeper thru the belly than she does. The 'net' pattern on Variatus seems to spread downward from the head. Depending on the color, they might not show any net pattern. Platys, Swords, and Variatus all come in hi-fin or fancier tail varieties.... new kinds being developed all the time.
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