Platy Swordtail

[Sevenstar]

About a month and a half ago I got three red platies. I thought I had gotten two females and one male, but it turned out later that it was two males and one female. Two weeks ago I noticed that one of my male platies started to develope a bit of of a swordtail. It isn't long at all. But noticeable if you look at him. My question is, wll that tail bit continue to grown? I guess he must of had a swordtail relative. The other male shows no signs of same tail.

 

[jgulecas]

Maybe, maybe not. They are very closely related and cross-breed readily. I once had a red swordtail mate with a black-spotted orange platy, and got red wag (black-finned) platy-swordtail crosses. Body shape between the two species, with just a hint of a sword on the males. Neither parent had black fins.

 

[Sonic Tooth]

One of my red wagtail platys has a small sword... I figured it was normal.

 

[coupedefleur]

Most of the commercial platy and swordtail varieties are crossbreeds from way back. Especially the red varieties.