Early on I also thought that the hidden gene in the platy line might be a recessive gene at a different locus than lesser. However, a couple things that made me change my mind:
1. Normal looking platy offspring X normal looking platy offspring produced only normal looking animals.
2. Lesser X lesser never produced reported platy (even lessers right out of the platy).
3. Butter platy was produced without inbreeding, just by crossing butter with a normal looking platy offspring like was crossed with lesser to produce more platy.
At this point it sure looks like the platy hidden gene is yet another allele of the same gene as the lesser mutation. It just happens to be an odd one in that it looks normal even when homozygous. Also, it's combo with lesser (i.e. platy) isn't completely white but it wouldn't be the first non completely white combo in this complex (homozygous phantom, homozygous mojave, crystal).
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