I have been told that swords and platties interbred....is this true??

Or do they do this only if the same species mate is not available?

Do any other live bearers interbred?

Thanks in advance

Have Swords Platties and Mollies and have yet to see them interbreed. the Males will chase each other a lil but have not seen a breeding cross as yet.

hmm.. Sailfin Dalmation Wag Sword ?? nah..

:lol: thanks for that - I may put them in all together then :bounce: .....As keeping them seperate is a pain in the bum :roll:

Swords and platies will definitely interbreed.

dam any way to stop it? other than seperating them?

Err Crap I gonna have to keep closer eye on main tank then ..

Yea when I had a livebearer tank. I used to have them interbreed all the time. I had females that would breed....Give birth Etc. Then grow a gonopodium

Yea when I had a livebearer tank. I used to have them interbreed all the time. I had females that would breed....Give birth Etc. Then grow a gonopodium

Whats a gonopodium? :oops:

The gonopodium is the males genitals, the little stick-kind-of-structure in front of male livebearers bottom fins

oh thanks for that :oops:

Swords and platies will definitely interbreed.

As said above. I had a male swordtail jump tanks whille I was doing a water change... thought I got him out soon enough until one female platties babies all had weird bodyshapes (somewhere between a platy and a Swordtail) ended up culling all the babies and said female.. she was going to be one of my hi-fin breeders too. :-? Swordtail tanks are now seperated from platy tanks by min of 1 tank.

Ok thanks for that I wont bother puting them together then as I can't be bothered with half bred mutants

ive read that as long as there is enough of their own species for them to breed with they will be less likely to resort to others that sorta look the same. :-?

Oh Dear, Too Bad, How Sad. NEVER MIND. :lol:

And it's probably already too late.

Swordtails and Platy's will interbreed when they are kept in a community tank whether there is enough of their own kind or not.

They are both Xiphophorus species whether it is maculatus, variatus, helleri, or montezumae, "they is kin, and kinship is a big thing with such fecund fish".

As a (I think) good breeder I keep all of those species well away from each other even down to keeping colour strains seperate. :roll:

i have them together ....but they dont breed . platies are happy with platies and swordtails leave them alone.

any other live bearers that interbred??

Nah I haven't put them in together so i'm safe- but is it just the male sword that can breed with the female platy or is it both ways??

Just out of interest. I've recently started reading "The Color Series" -by Philip Shaddock.

On pages 55 - 56 it states

Platys and Swordtails (Xiphophorus) have been used for more than 70 years in cancer research because the hybrids produced by interspecies crossing show macromelanophore pigment patterns. The backcross hybrids are very susceptible to melanomas (skin cancer)...

One more reason not to keep them in the same tank.

I was reading an article in a fish Mag tonight and it showed pictures of two fish that were the product of a guppy and a molly breeding ...never thought they could but seems they can

I was reading an article in a fish Mag tonight and it showed pictures of two fish that were the product of a guppy and a molly breeding ...never thought they could but seems they can

I was reading something on that 2 days ago! Apparently they used artificial insemination and the hybrids were all but completely sterile. Can’t remember where I saw the article… might have been Philip Shaddock’s “Guppy designer†website?

**Slaps hand to forehead** It’s right below the platy/swordtail hybrid bit!!

Hi all

It was a SAD DAY way back in 1963 when it was announced that some of the livebearing fish had been "Species" crossed in a laboratory in Florida..

To This Day I believe it was "AXELROD and HIS team". It'll take a lot to convince me otherwise. :oops:

As I've grown up over the years and read (and still have ) many books on the subject "Pisces"; each and every species has it's own specific style and shape of reproductive organs so as interspecies crosses can not happen. :roll:

They could be brought about with "MANUAL HUMAN ASSISTANCE" :evil:

I suppose it could be said that it was the forerunner of today's modern miracles of Stem Cell cultivation, DNA testing and all that other scientific stuff.

FOR ME AND MY "ANCIENT FUDDY DUDDY WAYS", (WITHOUT BRINGING RELIGION INTO THIS) I THINK WE SHOULD JUST LET NATURE TAKE IT'S OWN EVOLUTIONARY COURSE AND KEEP OUR STICKY INQUISITIVE NOSES AND HANDS OFF WHAT NATURE DOES BEST.

FOR ME AND MY "ANCIENT FUDDY DUDDY WAYS", (WITHOUT BRINGING RELIGION INTO THIS) I THINK WE SHOULD JUST LET NATURE TAKE IT'S OWN EVOLUTIONARY COURSE AND KEEP OUR STICKY INQUISITIVE NOSES AND HANDS OFF WHAT NATURE DOES BEST.