Breeding Plumetail Platys

[CACAdmin]

I have quite a an assortment of adult platys in my 70g (both X. variatus and X. maculatus). Now all the males will quite happily mate with any willing female...lol. However, I have one plumetail pair. Interestingly enough, the male has eyes only for the plumetail female... and rarely gives any of the other females in the tank even a sideways glance. This actually surprised me but I guess he is smitten with her.;) I suppose the only way to get him to mate with one of the other females would be put him with a different female in a separate tank.

What I was wondering, is if this preference is normal with plumetails.

[Melody]

I have Swordtails that will go after female Platy's as quick as their own kind. Platy's are also enthusiastic breeders, especially the males. Are your females bigger than him or are the majority smaller?

[CACAdmin]

The majority of the females are bigger than him. Some almost double his size.

[Melody]

Are the other males in the tank longer/larger than he is overall?

[CACAdmin]

No, he's about the same size. Now, I forgot to mention that I also have another plumetail male who is a fair bit smaller. That one spends his time displaying with/for the other similar sized platy males in the tank (the females brush the smaller males off so they amuse themselves in this manner).

[Melody]

Although he may seek the company of his own kind, his lack of enthusiasm towards other females is usually attributed to age, which shouldn't be a problem here. She could just be more open to his advances or he might just not be a good breeder.

Xiphorphorus females, according to studies, prefer a long male, be it long because of a sword, extension or because its the longest male in the tank. Males, on the other hand, like large females, so sometimes they are at odds there, or the studies are. Either way, the female determines who gets lucky for the most part, so they should be showing a preference for the longest males. If his tail makes him longer, that counts too.

He's probably getting his hits in. You should know soon - the Plume in the tail is visible in fry.

[CACAdmin]

Ah yes, the females are in control :laugh: . Thanks for the info. I have always noticed that males seem to prefer larger females but haven't really paid close attention to what denotes the females' preference. It will be interesting to observe and see if the studies prove true in my tank. Will also keep my eyes out for little plumetail fry! :smile:

[Melody]

Female preference is fascinating stuff... for me anyway. There can be all sorts of things that dictate it or its evolution. For a long time 'they' thought that it was the Swordtails with the longest sword that got the girl, but now studies indicate that its the length of the fish overall, even if the fish has no sword but is longer than those with one.

Then they took that into studies of more than one Xiph species, including Platy's. They surgically attached artifical swords to male Platy's and the female Platy's preferred those males. However, if they showed the female Platy a male that had no sword and was larger overall than the fish with a sword, she'd choose the large male.

Therefore, if the plumetail eventually makes the Plumetail Platy's longer than the regular finned males, the females should prefer them and you'll get more and more Plumetails.

Interestingly though, they can completely <ahem> blow that out of the water with peer pressure/competition. If one female prefers a male that isn't longer, then more females will also pefer that male.

One article compared it to human women wanting the strong, handsome guy with a flashy sportscar.:laugh: Luckily some females have evolved enough to appreciate inner strengths over all else.

[CACAdmin]

Fascinating stuff. I have one really 'plain Jane' platy female (X. maculatus). If you saw her, you would wonder why I would be breeding her. However, she allows only the most flamboyant males near her and produces some of the most beautiful offspring!