# Calico Swordtails?



## prinmel

I got these beautiful swords last week and don't know what they are called, the pet store just called them assorted swords. I looked around the internet and the closest thing I could find was the calico. Are these those? I don't know if they are even pure swordtail, or platy mixed, but I love them and hope they have babies!


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## jrman83

I always look at assorted as it was a bunch of fish of all types all together in one tank that mated. I have some Platies that are some interesting colors from this.


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## prinmel

Do they look like they are full swordtail? I think they look a little short in the tummy to tail area to be full swordtails...anyone else see that?


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## jrman83

They look like Swordtails to me. The male already looks like he is growing his sword a little.


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## coralbandit

Of the fish I breed swordtails give me the greatest success, and the oppurtunity to be creative. I don't seperate my breeding stock, they live in my 180 with lots of company. I purchased kio swords about a year ago. I thought they were rather unique. They only lasted around 4 mos and never had any babies. That is babies that were pure kio. About 9 months later I started to notice kio babies even though no kio in tank! I started about the same time as getting my first kio to try to breed black white swords with any of the other colors in my tank. First I got a black orange mix (much prettier than black white), then noticeds the kio babies. Since then I have produced many more kio, some look pure(100%) and some have mutated color patterns(some are lyre and tri tail), but what seems the best is what you and I will call CALICO swords. They are incredible! Some are kio with black running the length of the body, some are really calico(spotted). I keep no other live beares so the thought of platy hybrid or any other cross is out. Swordtails (females) have the ability to store sperm from upto 7 different males/ or become pregnant many (7) times without the presence of a male.The best part of all that is what you get from your babies.YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT COLOR COMES. My largest orange female(4 inches) has smewher around 50-75 fry regulary. About 50% are kio or calicut of all the different colors I've seen the calico/kio mix is fantastic.As I said I do not seperate my breeders so I'm constantly looking for the next most spectaculr color to come.Those swords in photo are similar to black white with a twist! Don't be discouraged if babies don't look like parents, just keep going. You will not believe what this simple fish can do.I'm not an expert, I like to keep learning(found this thread looking for calico swords) and didn't think mine were all there was. Good find and good luck.


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## navigator black

I'm a keeper of wild-type swordtails, so I have no expertise for defining the different breeds of sword. I'm pretty good at the different species though.

Every orange or black swordtail in the hobby today is a hybrid - early aquarists and cancer researchers mixed Xiphophorus helleri (swords) with X variatus, X maculatus (platies) and I think X alvarezi to get the colour forms, and then hobbyists line bred the hybrids to create the different breeds (Calico, pineapple, brick, wag, marigold etc).

Xiphophorus tend to get black spots, which are melanoma (skin cancer) - the same basic form that stayed with us through evolution and is a killer of humans. Early aquarists who were also doctors (Dr Myron Gordon was the main one) discovered a swordtail keeps its tendency to cancer in check, as does a platy, variatus, etc. But if you cross a platy and a swordtail, the checks break down and the cancer becomes malignant. It becomes an excellent tool for people researching human cancers. 

A lot of the crosses we see started as offshoots of cancer research - while it made some good research subjects, it also made some pretty fish.


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## coralbandit

It's my understanding that the difference between platies and swordtails is the tail? I'm sure there are some genetic differences upon closer exam. I aslo heard the black cancer affiliation before and just assumed(sorry I should know better) that this was more opinion than fact. Many other animals have different colorings although being genetically identical(ie labrador retrievers).Cancer research with fish(as much as I love them) sounds like an avenue worth travelling.Many of our(human)ailments do not carry into the animal kingdom for one reason or another. Doesn't science wonder why?


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## navigator black

The cancer studies go back fifty years - swordtails are one mapped out group.

The swordtails and platies are species groups - there are a number of different swordtail species with swords from stubs to huge things. This is a Xiphophorus montezumae - a young male with his word about 75% of what it became later. It's a wild-type, non-hybrid, not line bred.
Some "Genetic" swordtail group fish have no sword at all (X pygmaeus). It's neat stuff. The hobby uses three species, but there are a dozen more, like montezumae.


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