sexing swordtails

[mopar380]

I've have three swordtails, one was bought as a male, and 2 bought as females. Upon close inspection the females appear to be hermaphrodites - they have no sword on their tails, and their abdomens are larger like females but they have no pronounced Anal fin like a female should have - they both look like they have a gonopodium of a male. The one definite male occasionally tries a mating dance with these but there is no response from these other two. Has anyone seen anything like this before ? And NO they are not male Platies... they came from the Swordtail tank at the aquarium store and they are not shorter like Platies. Confused.

[Bernie]

They all begin as females....perhaps they are just late developers (often happens).

Even though it is a Swordtail tank, there may have been a few platies in the tank at some point by mistake (most platies these days are often part swordtail), or down the line his/her parents may have crossbred.

With all the interbreeding/crossbreeding/injecting with hormones etc. of fish that goes on, nothing would surprise me anymore.

Male livebearers will often try to mate with whatever is in the tank, if it looks similar LOL!

[mopar380]

If they all begin as females, then I guess you're saying that these may develop sword tails if they are immature ?

[Bernie]

Quite possibly they might, yes! if they are males, I've had swordtail males, that took a very long time to grow a distinctive long sword. It also has been known on occasion for female swordtails to have a bit of a sword.

If yours are female, the anal fin may be undeveloped, I'm not sure....they aren't just keeping the fin closed are they?

[Moejoe]

I agree with Bernie...............You have to keep in mind too, that these fish are selectively bred with their own siblings many times over and the results can be confusing.

[alan j t]

swords can be tricky, when i had some they all escaped through a hole in the hood intended for the heater!

[mopar380]

keeping a close look and one of them seems to be growing a sword, so they may be immature males, but were sold to me as females.

[Bernie]

That sucks....it is usually relatively easy to tell just from the presence of the gonopodium that it is a male, the wrong one may have been netted by mistake at the LFS. I would try and return him for another female, as your female will get harassed too much if she is the only female in the tank and this constant harassment can even lead to her death.

[mopar380]

actually all 3 have gonopodiums - but I thought when I first got them that two of them had anal fins..... I'm gonna see if the store will exchange them. The third one seems to be also growing a sword, just a slight protuberance at this point.

[Bernie]

Did you particularly want to breed them?