Green swordtail

Male swordtails are aggressive towards each other, so they must be kept singly or in groups of five or more.

The Green swordtail lives in the benthopelagic, non-migratory, freshwater, brackish, pH range: 7.0 - 8.0, dH range: 9 - 19 environment.

1864, while the popular Green Swordtail Xiphophorous helleri was first introduced in 1909. Swordtails come in many colors and mixtures of colors, even in wild strains, that including red, green, black and albino though the most well known is red. More

When a green swordtail is pregnant you will find a black spot on the back of her stomach. A green swordtail can have up to 50 Fry's. It will take awhile for her to have her Fry's. More

Green swordtails added a lot of excitement to my first community tank. They male was extremely active and a personable fish. The red swordtails I found more docile and not quite as entertaining. More

conflict in male green swordtail fish, Xiphophorus helleri: Effects of body size and prior dominance. Animal Behaviour 41, p. 417-424. v & M. Beaugrand (1991). Prior residency and the stability of dominance relationships in pairs of green swordtail fish Xiphophorus helleri. Behav. Proc. 24, p. 169-175. More

The Green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii) is a species of freshwater fish in family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. A live-bearer, it is closely related to the southern platyfish or "platy" (X. maculatus) and can interbreed with it. More

Distinguishing Features: Green swordtails can easily be distinguished from native poeciliids by the elongate lower caudal fin rays which form a sword on large males. Females and immature males are green above with dark edge scales on their back and sides, and yellow below. More

The green swordtail has considerable economic importance in the aquarium trade and frequently is used in genetic and behavioral research. More

Green Swordtail by Austin Description The male swordtail gets up to 14 cm, but the females get up to 16 cm. Only males have swords and a gonopodium. The wild swordtail is light green with red stripe and speckles. More

green swordtails, retarding their maturation until a better time emerges with less competition. The fish were kept in separate tanks so while they could see each other through the glass, they could not use other senses to respond to one another. More

The green swordtail(Xiphophorus helleri), is native to Central America. It is commonly known as green swordtail owing to the olive green natural colour that it exhibits in wild populations in Central America. More

The male green swordtail grows to a maximum overall length of 14cm (5.5in) and the female to 16 cm (6.3 in).The name "swordtail" is derived from the elongated lower lobe of the male's caudal fin (tailfin). More

using the green swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri, which shows remarkable, inherited variation in many phenotypic traits (see photos!). More

The researchers kept juvenile and adult green swordtails in separate tanks so they could see each other through the glass but not use their other senses. More

The green swordtail, as the most common of the swordtail species (and in recognition of the fact that many captive-bred color varieties are not green), is typically known simply as the swordtail in the aquarium hobby. It is often designated X. More

Common names

Almindelig Sværddrager in Danish (dansk)
Atoyac-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Belize-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Catemaco-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
cola de espada in Spanish (español)
Espada in Spanish (español)
Fünfstreifen-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Gefleckter Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Gelber Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Gelber-oder Catemaco-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Green swordtail in English
Grüner Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Helleri in German (Deutsch)
Kilickuyruk in Turkish (Türkçe)
Kılıçkuyruk in Turkish (Türkçe)
Mailleur in French (français)
Mecovka pestrá in Czech (česky)
Mecovka zelená in Slovak (slovenčina)
Messingschwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Mieczyk hellera in Polish (polski)
Miekkapyrstö in Finnish (suomen kieli)
Oaxaca-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Pez de rabo espada in Spanish (español)
Porte-épée in French (français)
Queue d' Èpée in French (français)
Red swordtail in English
Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Streifenschwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Suwadakar in Malay (bahasa Melayu)
Svärdbärare in Swedish (Svenska)
Sværddrager in Danish (dansk)
Sverddrager in Norwegian (Norsk)
Swaarddraer in Afrikaans
Swaardstert in Afrikaans
Swordtail in English
swordtails in English
Xipho in French (français)
Xiphophorus hellerii in Azerbaijani (azərbaycan dili)
Xiphophorus hellerii in Catalan (Català)
Xiphophorus hellerii in Portuguese (Português)
Yucatan-Schwertträger in German (Deutsch)
Zwaarddrager in Dutch (Nederlands)
סייפן מצוי in Hebrew (‫עברית)
剑尾鱼 in Mandarin Chinese
劍尾魚 in Mandarin Chinese

Order : Cyprinodontiformes
Family : Poeciliidae
Genus : Xiphophorus
Species : Xiphophorus hellerii
Authority : Heckel, 1848