The Platy or Platypoecilus maculatus is a great fish for the aquarium hobbyist who likes to experiment with breeding fish.  The Platy is also a perfect, hardy community aquarium fish.  Almost any color you lack in a community aquarium, this active little fish will provide that pop of needed color.  Red, blue, brown or black, Platys have been bred to all the colors of the rainbow.

The Platy’s popularity is long lived, over 80 years ago when Aquarium shops still used mostly Latin names as labels on tanks of colorful fish, The Platypoecilus maculatus was one of the first to have a common name.


  In fact it was so popular and diverse it had 2 common names the Platy and the Moon both referring to the same fish.

The Platy is an excellent example of what can be done by careful selection in breeding.  The wild, freshly caught specimens are a dark, uninteresting brown.  However, upon closer inspection of groups of these wild fish mostly from Mexico, early aquarium hobbyists found they vary considerably.  Some of the wild Platys have showy metallic blue sheens on some of the scales; others have a slightly reddish hue.  Still other wild Platys have a mottled black and gray appearance.

From these slight indications of color possibilities, hobbyists and breeders have developed Platys of astonishing beauty.  Some modern strains of Platys available today are completely red, others red marked with black; some are almost completely black and still others are a deep metallic blue.

One very popular strain is the “Mickey Mouse” Platy, with black markings on the tail area that actually looks like Mickey Mouse ears!

  A pure red Platy is popular as is a pure black and an almost completely metallic blue variety.  Other strains have been developed in all shades of gold, from pale yellow to deep orange, even one called the “Gold Dust” Platy has a look of actual gold!

There are numerous combinations of these colors, and most varieties have the crescent-shaped spot of black at the base of the tail area that has given them their other common name of Moon.

One exception to selective breeding that produced the amazing array of colors and patterns over the years is the Gold Platy.  The Gold Platy is what is called a “sport”, that is a freak of nature that suddenly appeared in a tank of Platys belonging to a German aquarist about 80 years ago.  The Gold Platy bred true and is an established strain still today.  All other colors and patterns have been cultivated by careful selection in breeding.

If you want a simple to care for fish that eats just about anything you feed it and thrives in most condition, a great choice is the Platy.  A fish that is easy to breed and one that you could actually create your own strain over years of selective breeding, look no further than the Platy.