Posted by cindy on January 26, 2003 at 11:29:27:
In Reply to: Re: Will sword tails breed with guppies? posted by lacie143 on January 17, 2003 at 13:38:57:
...in many breeders opinions. You shouldn't buy the less expensive fish in the "asst." or "mixed" cichlid tanks, etc, at your LFS for this reason. The hybrid fish are usually sterile and no LFS will buy your grown fry if you are honest and tell them they are hybrids. They unload the ones they suspect are hybrids in those "asstd." and "mixed" tanks, instead of labelling them with the correct scientific name, since it would be unethical to sell them as purebred fish.
Where do you get stuff like, "if a male sword and a female guppy did manage to reproduce, it would always be that combination, never the opposite, a female sword with a mail guppy,"? What exactly is the difference? Both species are in two different genera, and won't reproduce, no matter which sex of which you have! A hybrid would be produced by the cross of two species within the same genus, like a swordtail/platy cross, or molly/guppy cross, and once again, the sex makes no difference (as long as you have one of each...)
