Possible Secret Swordmale (no tail)?

[IsaacSmith]

Hey all,

I'm just hoping someone can look at these pictures and see if you think this swordtail could be a male whose sword was bitten off before I got it. I've had it and two confirmed females for several months now, and I always assumed it was a "she".

I just got a male last night to add to the gang, and the new guy and this one are fighting constantly. I have a 55g with plenty of plants, but they insist on using the same 10% of the tank to fight lol. If it is a male, I probably need to take the new one back. I just haven't seen anything about a male constantly fighting with a female like this with several others in the tank.

If it helps, the swordless one typically starts the fights, and it showed no aggression (or impregnating abilities) towards the females while I've had it.

The orange and black one is the fish in question.

Thanks!

 

[nik_n]

if you would have a male and a female they would have had babies by now. These are live bearers so they don't really care who they mate with. Did the "male" chase the female around before?

 

[AbbeysDad]

I breed red and pineapple swordtails. It's not uncommon to have late maturing males and they usually grow out to the biggest size. In these late maturing males, they appear like a female until their gonopodium and their swordtail develops. I can't quite tell the sex from the picture.

 

[IsaacSmith]

He does stick pretty closely to one of the others! I ended up taking back the new male before he got bullied to death. Thanks for the help!