Kind Of A Dumb Question....? Platies & Swordtails...

[Hook. Line & Sinker]

I wanted to know the difference between a female swordtail and a platy, 2 of my fish look like what I would think a female swordtail looks like, but I'm not sure. I asked the people at the fish store, and they said they didn't know how to tell.

I know it's kinda stupid, but I really want to know. Thanks

 

[backtotropical]

Hi,

Platies and Swordtails belong to the same family and are very similar, so you are not alone in being slightly confused.

The main difference is that Platies are shorter and stouter, whereas Swordtails are thinner and more elongated. Otherwise, it's quite different to tell them apart.

 

[Butch]

There are three species of Common Xiphophorus species that you can find them in the pet stores:

Platy, Swordtails and Variatus Platy.

Platy are much stockier and shorter than two Xiphophorus.

Swordtail is more longer body and the dorsal fin is more wide than Platy.

Variatus are just between the platy and swordtails and are thought to be hybrids. they are little stockier than swordtail but not so as platy.
The dorsal fin is more wide than platy.

But all of fish in pet stores are already hybrids of three species because of the color strains and finnage strains. So im not surprised if someone's confused with the female Xiphophorus.