I'm seeing these gorgeous fish on Aquabid lately. Anyone have any or know anything about them?

X. Xiphidium is one of the natural/ wild species of the genus Xiphophorus and is usually classified as a "Platy" although some people put it with the Swordtails because of the small "sword".
It is a hardy and easy to keep and breed fish.

Darrell

They are stunners for sure. I had them a couple of years ago and look forward to keeping them again in the future.

Does anyone know where I can buy some of these fish?

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You have already mentioned one of the most convenient sources, i.e., AquaBid. Many ALAers keep this fish, so you might also try advertising in the classifieds section of this website or submitting a "Want" list to go in the next Trader issue. There are usually some of these available at the ALA Convention auction which I believe is somewhere around Cleveland in the spring. As a last resort you might consider the Xiphophorus Stock Center (xiphophorus.org).

I didn't find these beautiful "Spiketail" platys very easy to breed, but as with any fish, conditions and results vary greatly. I have seen several different locations/populations available over the years. I believe the biggest differentiators are the markings, especially on the tail. One has a half crescent moon while another has a single dot at both the anterior and posterior base of the caudal. There are other variations as well, I believe.

Good luck with your acquisition. Let us know how your experience turns out.

Joel

"Former" Soapbox Speaker

I agree with Joel, you can always post in the Trader as a want. If you can’t find a club member that has these I would suggest the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center is at this site http://www.xiphophorus.txstate.edu (same site as Joel lists)

They are good with fish that they have but are hit and miss on the variety available at any one time and may not have the same collection location on this fish that you are looking for. Also I don’t think they are shipping any more this year. I have purchased from them in the past. You get a fact sheet on the fish you purchased including background information on the strain and date your fish were born on, it’s very cool.

One of my albums has some pictures of some of the fish at the center. I didn’t have them identified but if there is one that you like you can contact them with a copy of the picture (just right click, copy and paste to an email) and they will tell you what it is.

Good luck

I bought X.Xiphidium at one of the ALA conventions during the 1980's when I was doing a lot of specialized breeding of Fancy Xiphophorus, so I didn't focus on the X.Xiphidium very much. I found them extremely easy to keep and breed and the stock which I had was very hardy. I even produced a Plumetail Xiphidium in F2 before selling all of my stock to make room for all of the Fancies I had back then.

Darrell