Three Swordtail Guppy

[Ddraig Goch]

I've had this male Guppy for a while now but I've never seen another like him and none of my friends have either.

Has anyone out there seen one like this with a three 'sword' tail?

If so, what type is he?

I tried to get a better pic, but he swims too fast!!


Forgot to say that his tail has not been torn or nipped at all.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Has anybody seen a Guppy with a tail like this?

A quick yes on no would be very much appreciated.

 

[nino]

I've not seen one with three parts to a tail but there is such a thing as a lyretail (double) guppy. Maybe this guy's a mutant of this?

 

[Annastasia]

Never seen one like that before. To me it kinda looks like he got part of his tail nipped off, or had fin-rot when he was younger, and it just never really grew back. But I don't know, because the edges are very clean.

It'd be interesting to see what would happen if you tried breeding him.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

I'm positive that his tail has not been nipped as I've had him since he was a couple of months old, his tail was much smaller then but still in three parts. (The LSF didn't have any adult Guppies when I visited so he sold me some of his young stock at half price).

Some of my fry are his but their tails are still growing so I will soon see if there will be more like him.

Would anyone buy a Guppy with a tail like this if you saw it in your LFS? Just wondering if I should put more work into trying to breed specifically for this tail shape.

Thanks.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Thanks for replying nino and Annastasia.

Anyone else seen a Guppy like this?

 

[Weaver]

Nope
Saw ones at the lfs which must I initially thought were some type of endler but they must have been the lyretail variety nino was talking about.Lfs wont sell them until they are bigger
If they were behaving and swimming normally the 3 pronged tail certainly wouldnt stop me from buying them.

 

[SnowyzMom]

What a fascinating guppy and I don't think there's a thing wrong with him. I have several fancy tailed guppy males, some with the regular and large flared single fin tail(which yes, makes it hard for them to swim normally) and several with what I can only describe as spiked....like a handkerchief hem on a dress....they have never been nipped, it's not stress splits, they just grew these long extensions on their tails, very pretty really. Some are 2nd and 3rd gen so I know it's not stress but genetics. I think it's normal and quite interesting for a prolific live bearer like the guppy to have genetic changes once in awhile. I would certainly buy guppies like your fella, very interesting indeed. I mean I bet the first person who ever owned a split tail guppy got told all the time it was a stress split, right?

Lovely fella and if you can get babies off him I say go for it! Good luck!

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Thanks Weaver and SnowyzMom, I will keep breeding him in hope to re-create this tail shape.

 

[Somethings Fishy Here]

No Ive never seen one like that before either but would be extremely interested to see what his offspring look like. If you get it to breed (shouldnt be too hard ) you'll have to keep us updated!

 

[Chaz]

Amazing,so adorable!!!!!

 

[Krib Crazy]

I would buy them. That is one of the coolest guppies ive ever seen!!

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Thanks all.

The fry he's produced so far seem to have various tail shapes ATM but as they are still young it is difficult to see how they will turn out, I will have to wait a couple of months to see if I have more like him. I will keep you updated.

I would buy them. That is on of the coolest mollies ive ever seen!!

Thanks................. but he's a guppy.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I've seen badly inbred guppys with similar mutations, so its resonably likely he's a mutant, but he could just as easily be a distant crossbreed of a different tail type guppy with a standard one i.e.

Swallow type guppy

 

[Ddraig Goch]

I found the swallow tail guppies on Google while doing a search to find a similar guppy to mine, but they all seem to have long extensions to their fins which mine does not.

I thought he might be a cross between a lyretail (or double swordtail) and a pintail, his offspring seem to be developing various tail shapes so I'll just have to be patient to see how they turn out. I'll also have to try and do some more specific breeding to try and re-create this unusual feature.