Swordtails breeding - help?

[Avel1896]

Wel, you do see the dark seam already developing, which will follow the growth of the sword to be.

You mean this :

It had caught my attention but obviously not enough

Only females can turn into male. But once they are transformed, it can't go back to female.

In French it is said protogynous hermaphroditism (possibly different in English).

Xiphophorus females that went through a transition to male, will be functional males.

Wow this IS incredible
No one tell me fishes aren't extraordinary living-beings !

 

[gabrielgalhano]

Hey there
This usaually happen when putting male and females in the same tank especially when it comes to swordtails (and Platies, Mollies, Guppies).
Unless your tank is large enough you might contemplate a fingerling invasion as they are very prolific fishes !


Maybe you could see eggs against the light especially females of light color.


Easy : huge bellies : females seem having doubled in belly'svolume !
Also you can see larvaes against the light.

Hem... will be happy if you found back th other half of th male

Thank you! I'll keep an eye on them for the next couple months!

I found the other half of the male. It was hiding in the plants

 

[gabrielgalhano]

If you added a load of real plants, perhaps those of a feathery nature, the young will have somewhere to hide and hopefully avoid getting eaten. Plastic plants are not as useful in that regard.

I have some real plants. I'm adding a little at a time since I had some trouble with real plants in the past
Thanks for the tips!

 

[gabrielgalhano]

The blue swordtail will develop into a male. The dark seam is already starting to develop in its tail where it will develop a sword. Just a matter of time that its anal fin will turn into a gonopodium.

Damn... Now that I'm looking closely, I'm starting to believe you're right! At the petshop it looked like a female to me and was sold as such. I guess only time will tell.

 

[gabrielgalhano]

"Hermaphroditic" means possessing both male and female characteristics. This does not describe Swordtails.
However, female swordtail can and do change gender, to become wholly male...and they have even be known to revert back to being wholly female once more.

That's amazing! I knew that some fish, such as clown fish, do have this "ability", I didn't know swordtails had it. Do you know what triggers this change? Is it the lack of males in a big group of females like in the clownfish?

 

[emeraldking]

That's amazing! I knew that some fish, such as clown fish, do have this "ability", I didn't know swordtails had it. Do you know what triggers this change? Is it the lack of males in a big group of females like in the clownfish?

Yes, an inbalance in the sex ratio can trigger this transition.

 

[emeraldking]

Yes, an inbalance in the sex ratio can trigger this transition.

I can also mention that a sex change in livebearers are not just restricted to members of the Xiphophorus genus. But they're most known for it. How the sex change works in other ovoviviparous livebearers work is questionable at this point. Thusfar, only research on this topic has happened with Xiphophorus species. But it's known that this does also happen in other kinds of ovoviviparous livebearers. So far, this phenomenon doesn't exsist in viviparous livebearers.