I originally also thought the Hidden gene that turns a lesser into a Platty would be recessive. But a poster from Taiwan who goes by the handle Hahaman put out the idea years and years ago that the Hidden gene might be the same gene as Lesser, just a different mutation of that gene (like Mojave, Phantom, Vin Russo, and Mocha also appear to be different mutant versions of this gene).



Now with Phantom44's and Butter Platy being produced without inbreeding it sure looks like Hahaman's allele theory is right. The idea is that the original Platty had two mutant versions of the same gene, sort of like a cross line leucistic but on the dark end of the leucistic scale. One version was Lesser and the other "Hidden". All the babies from Platty X normal get one or the other version (on average a 50/50 split). None get both to make Platty and none get neither to be completely normal.



One way to get the two versions back together in the same snake to make another Platty is to breed one of those Hidden mutation animals to a Lesser. Because the Hiddens look normal (or at least very subtle, but normal from everything I've read) it would be hard to know if you had that mutation unless your animal was the normal looking offspring of a Platty. Apparently a couple people have lucked out this year and just happened to breed a lesser to a hidden mutation female.

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