Female Lyretail Swordtail

[twitchii]

I have a question for the general populace about this lyretail swordtail that I got at my LFS. I actually didn't pay for it because I traded in some upside down catties. I already have 3 black swordtails (2 female and 1 male) and they are well-adjusted. The guy offered a swordtail in exchange and I just couldn't pass that up.

So there was this orange and black lyretail that has a pronounced 'sword' for a tail, like a traditional male. However they guy assured me that it was indeed a female because it had a triangularly bottom fin. I looked at my females and indeed the all have this triangle fin and the male doesn't.

Does this make sense to everyone? I am just not sure. I don't really mind if it turns out to be a male as it was part of trade (got an otto cat as well , it's so pretty that I'm willing to get more females but I just want a second opinion.

 

[OldMan47]

It does indeed make sense. A true lyretail male is often unable to breed because the gonopodium is too long to work properly. To get lyretails, you end up breeding a female like yours with a normal male and accept the small percentage of lyretail males that result.

 

[twitchii]

okay and that makes sense with the lyretail's behavior when i put her in with my other swordtails. She wasn't aggressive at all (even my other female gets a bit nippy sometimes) and in fact it seemed that the 3 others calmed down a lot too and aren't as jumpy. She's absolute gorgeous , i'll have to put a pic on here when i get hold of a camera.

 

[helterskelter]

Due to the lyretail gene females do develop what look like swords, and even wore is many produce what looks like a male like breeding organ or Gonopodium.
However this is only a extension to the fin ray's and dose make them still female!

 

[hughessomefish]

would that exsplan why i had a male lythertail molly and a female one and they never bred (but tried)

 

[OldMan47]

Mollies do not get the extreme lyretail effect that you see in a swordtail HughesSomeFish. By comparison to a true lyretail Xiphophorus, a molly will never really look like a lyretail. In a swordtail, a relatively new livebearer keeper will often identify a female as a male and point to the female's long lower anal fin first ray extension and call it a gonopodium while insisting that the lower caudal fin extension is the male's sword. These fish take a closer look to sex because the real obvious difference in appearance is only the fact that the triangular anal fin rays are or are not still present.

For a glimpse of what I mean, have a look at the female shown on page 5 of this article.