We have one orange swordtail fish. A female. We had a male too, but she went all black widow on him. Can't say I blame her. He probably sweated on the machine she wanted to use at Bally's and didn't wipe up after himself. I envy her moxy.
A short while after the male was found murdered and an autopsy was done, three tiny little baby swordtails showed up in the tank that look just like girl swordtail. Some time goes by, they grow into bigger babies.
Then today, I notice MORE swordtail babies. Tiny little newborn babies. How can this be? The male was executed. What the?
I asked Mr. Right how did this happen, and he actually.... ASKED ME IF I HAVE EVER HAD A SCIENCE CLASS. I almost went all black widow myself, but internalized it instead. I repeated, "there is only one swordtail, a female". Then I heard some mumbling about how swordtails breed with mollies?
I'm no fish expert, but I know this is the equivalent of a cat breeding with a dog. In science class, don't they teach you that doesn't happen?
I love google. Right away I found what I was looking for and sent this email to Mr. Right when I got to work.
So the swordtail does not breed with other types of fish... but, they are
livebearers and if you read at the very end of this article
"a month after the first batch expect another batch from the same female. Female
livebearers store sperm in a pouch for several months and can continue to have
fry without being near another male"
In your face.
Then I did my best George Jefferson swagger all the way to lunch.
