Transexual Swordtail

[DaveA76]

about a month ago i boughtt 3 swordtails 1 male 2 females all about an inch long they were definately 2 females when i bought them, now 1 has grown quickly and its triangle anal fin has changed to an erm "thingy" lol and the base of the tail has started to extend only by a couple of mm but is changing, the weird bit is the male (the original male one with the sword and the "thingy") still mates with the definate female and the "tranny" but when he mates with the "tranny" he/she also sticks its "thingy" forward and errrrrrm well you know
is this normal when there is already another male in the tank, they are all of the same coleration, but im at a loss it doesent try to mate with the other feamale

so have a i got a butch female or is it going through a gender change and bats for the other side

 

[fluttermoth]

It used to be thought that swordtails could change sex from female to male, but I believe the latest research suggests that they're actually just very, very late developing males.

It's certainly not uncommon, I had it happen a number of times when I kept livebearers. It will probably grow on to become more recognisably male with a fully functioning gonopodium in time; nothing to worry about, except it'll mess up your male/female ratios

 

[VaegaVic]

I thought it could be attributed to females producing the male hormone as they get older (old age) and develop a sword?
The same way elderly women grow moustaches.

How old were the swords when you bought them?

Of course I'm not saying fluttermoth is wrong and in this case he's most likely right.

 

[Curiosity101]

They were only an inch when purchased so fluttermouths theory is most likely in my opinion.

 

[helterskelter]

Some males can take upto a year to mature, it's a tacit in the wild to allow some males to grow much larger then the normal males. These are the best males you can ever keep.

They can change in old age from females to males, but this is due to hormone imbalance fooling the body to grow male features like a sword and a gonopodium, how ever these males are infertile and will not farther any fry

 

[DaveA76]

thanks guys for the replies much appreciated

 

[hughessomefish]

This topic has been brought up before, I also have wondered the same thing. Since I have never had a "change" occur I really can't say if I have seen it.

 

[OldMan47]

At a mere 1 inch of length on a swordtail, you have a very young fish. Since swordtails develop late compared to many fish, you can reasonably expect that some, perhaps all, of the 1 inch fish are really males. I bought a group of 6 wild type swordtails that were only 2 inches long a few years ago. At another 6 months, one of the fish I had started to show male characteristics. A few months later, two more of those fish showed male characteristics. This went on over a period of almost 2 years at which point I knew that I had a group of 6 male swordtails. I was a bit disappointed as a livebearer breeder but I sold some of the most magnificent swordtails ever seen among wild type X helleri males. Although I had guessed that some of my fish must be females, I found that each and every one turned out to be a male. I saw none of the things that some people claim for fish changing sex. My fish never carried or dropped any fry and each one showed its true gender when given enough time for that to show through. If I had even one female among my fish, it might have been more difficult to come to the conclusion that all fish were males the whole time. I might have been confused by having a fish that dropped fry, but that was something I never had to face.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

i was sold a platy, and then it was attacked, and when the tail grew back, it had a sword. it was really weird. i still don't really know if i have a platy or a swordtail

 

[fish48]

you was sold a young swordtail not a platy