Xiphophorus hellerii, Green swordtail : aquarium

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Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848

Green swordtail
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) > Poeciliidae (Poeciliids) > Poeciliinae
Etymology: Xiphophorus: Greek, xiphos = sword + Greek, pherein = to carry (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Heckel.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 8.0; dH range: 9 - 19; non-migratory. Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 52054); 26°N - 12°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North and Central America: Rio Nantla, Veracruz in Mexico to northwestern Honduras. Africa: Feral populations reported from Natal and eastern Transvaal as well as in Lake Otjikoto, Namibia (Ref. 7248). Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 14.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26130); 16.0 cm TL (female); common length : 2.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11-14; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. This species is distinguished by having a medium to large swordtail with a long straight caudal appendage; midlateral stripe may be dusky or brownish (northern populations) or red; 2 additional reddish stripes may be present above midlateral line and one beneath; terminal segment of gonopodial ray 3 produced into a crescent-shaped hook and blade pointed distally; ray 4a curves strongly backward over the blade at an angle greater than 90°; distal serrae of ray 4p reduced in size and number and proximal serrae rather slender; terminal segment of ray 5a produced into a claw, several times larger than the distal serrae of ray 4p (Ref. 52914).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found mainly in rapidly flowing streams and rivers, preferring heavily vegetated habitats (Ref. 26130). They occur in warm springs and their effluents, weedy canals and ponds (Ref. 5723). They feed on worms, crustaceans, insects and plant matter (Ref. 7020). Used for genetics research (Ref. 4537). Especially the red varieties are very popular aquarium fishes (Ref. 1672). Aquarium keeping: the males aggressive towards each other; minimum aquarium size 80 cm (Ref. 51539).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Female produces 20 to 200 young after a gestation period of 24 to 30 days. Attains sexual maturity after eight to twelve months (Ref. 26130). This species has a tendency to undergo sex reversal (from female to male) under certain environmental conditions (Ref. 6465).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Wischnath, L., 1993. Atlas of livebearers of the world. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., United States of America. 336 p. (Ref. 26130)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 29 March 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: highly commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00606 - 0.01650), b=3.05 (2.92 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.43 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1; Fec=20-200 * 12).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).