The XFins site includes images and information that I hope will be useful to both beginners and advanced hobbyists. My primary focus as a hobbyist is the development of colorful fancy finned swordtails including hifin and lyretail varieties. Many of the beautiful fancy finned fish that are available today are the product of interspecies hybridization. All species of
Xiphophorus are potential sources of genes or gene modifiers that when expressed in a different species, can produce novel color patterns or fancy finnage.
I have used natural matings and artificial insemination to search for new hifin, lyretail, and
color gene modifiers in several wild species and the results are shown here.
08/20/23
All of the F1 hifin males have wide dorsal fins indicating that the wide dorsal is a dominant trait in males. Body size and hifin length are variable and should be improved by selective breeding. It is striking that the dorsal fins of the F1 hifin females are so underdeveloped compared to their male siblings. This sex-linked difference in hifin development also occurs in swordtails and variatus platies. Female hifin swordtails containing long, flowing dorsal fins are not commonly available, but they do exist. Interestingly, the male hifin siblings of these females do not generally have long flowing dorsals. The modifier genes that control hifin development in males and females are distinct.
8/20/23
Developing a Line of High Quality Hifin Maculatus
Female hifin swordtail with a long, flowing dorsal fin
Difficulty Developing Lines of High Quality Lyretail Maculatus
Wildtype male maculatus and variatus platies do not have sword-like extensions from their caudal fins. Transfer of the dominant lyretail gene from a swordtail to a maculatus platy generally results in poor quality lyretail maculatus containing short, nonsymetrical lyretails.
The platies shown above express the dominant lyretail gene, but they only exhibit a partial lyretail phenotype. Typical lyretail characteristics that are commonly present include the extended second ray of the dorsal fin, larger pectoral fins, and an extended gonopodium as seen on the two males. In most lyretail platies the lyretail is underdeveloped; either short and nonsymmetric or not present at all. A gene that suppresses caudal extensions in maculatus and variatus is likely preventing the growth of a long, symmetrical lyretail.
These lyretail maculatus have relatively well developed, symmetrical lyretails. However, this lyretail phenotype does not always breed true. Several rounds of selectively breeding good lyretail females and sibling non-lyretail males will be required to establish a high quality lyretail maculatus line.
