How likely is it that my swordtail platies crossbreed with my variatus?

[Sgooosh]

Hello, I currently have more than 10 swordtails and 2 variatus platies, they are the "sunburst" variety.
after a few months, they have turned very vibrant red and the female looks to be gravid.
I currently have one variatus male, and 1 swordtail male.
the swordtail is called "Neon swordtail" which might be helleri and variatus mixed...

the two different species tend to keep to themselves, and the new platies seem to be more friendly towards me than the swordtails born and raised in the tank

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello, I currently have more than 10 swordtails and 2 variatus platies, they are the "sunburst" variety.
after a few months, they have turned very vibrant red and the female looks to be gravid.
I currently have one variatus male, and 1 swordtail male.
the swordtail is called "Neon swordtail" which might be helleri and variatus mixed...

the two different species tend to keep to themselves, and the new platies seem to be more friendly towards me than the swordtails born and raised in the tank

Hello Sgooosh. I thought a Variatus was a cross between a Swordtail and a Platy. A Variatus is a type of Platy.

10 Tanks

 

[GaryE]

There are far more knowledgeable members when it comes to fancy livebearers and I hope they check in. But pet shop strains can be a crapshoot. I have had platys give birth to short sworded young, healthy platys produce balloon offspring, and a few other anomalies over the years. What you see may not be what you get.

X variatus is an overlooked fish. The wild forms can be real beauties.

The old guys in our club told then young me they crossed variatus and helleri aiming for the yellow variatus colours on swords. They also confined them in tiny containers to get this to happen. In my teens, I kept variatus for years, sometimes with swords, and everything bred true. I think for any certain crossing, that cram them into tight spaces technique says something.

I tend to expect most swordtails and platys to be crosses at some point, and that complicates things. You can't be sure of what you start with.

 

[emeraldking]

How likely is it that my swordtail platies crossbreed with my variatus?​

Swordtail fish and variatus platies can crossbreed and have fertile offspring. Keeping them in the same tank, swordtail fish and platies (no matter which platy species) won't make any difference in mating with their own kind or the other.

Hello Sgooosh. I thought a Variatus was a cross between a Swordtail and a Platy. A Variatus is a type of Platy.

10 Tanks

Nope. Xiphophorus variatus is an own platy species. They occur in the wild. Besides maculatus and variatus platies, there are way more wild platy species that are hardly to be found at stores. I'm one of those people who keep wild platy species (and other wild livebearer species for that matter).

I tend to expect most swordtails and platys to be crosses at some point, and that complicates things.

Most fancy swordtails are crosses of swordtail fish x platy. But there are also fancy swordtails that have been selectively linebred for certain traits. When that happens, we also call them an aquarium strain but derived from pure wild swordtails.