green swordtail
Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A male swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii) fish.
Corydoras-adolfoi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii) is a species of freshwater/brackish fish in family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. A live-bearer, it is closely related to the southern platyfish or 'platy' (X. maculatus) and can crossbreed with it. It is native to an area of North and Central America stretching from Veracruz, Mexico, to northwestern Honduras.
Wikipedia contributors, Green swordtail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:01:41.058667+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848
- Name authority
- Heckel, 1848
- Common name
- green swordtail
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Poeciliidae
- Genus
- Xiphophorus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCyprinodontiformes
- familyPoeciliidae Bonaparte, 1831
- subfamilyPoeciliinae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusXiphophorus Heckel, 1848
- speciesXiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Xiphophorus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Spiketail PlatyfishXiphophorus andersi Meyer & Schartl, 1980 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Xiphophorus clemenciae Álvarez, 1959 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Monterrey PlatyfishXiphophorus couchianus (Girard, 1859) | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Reticulate PlatyfishXiphophorus evelynae Rosen, 1960 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Xiphophorus gordoni Miller & Minckley, 1963 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Xiphophorus kosszanderi Meyer & Wischnath, 1981 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern PlatyfishXiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Highland SwordtailXiphophorus malinche Rauchenberger, Kallman & Morizot, 1990 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Marbled SwordtailXiphophorus meyeri Schartl & Schröder, 1988 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Catemaco platyfishXiphophorus milleri Rosen, 1960 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Xiphophorus monticolus Kallman, Walter, Morizot & Kazianis, 2004 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Barred SwordtailXiphophorus multilineatus Rauchenberger, Kallman & Morizot, 1990 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Xiphophorus brevis Regan, 1907 Regan, 1907 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus guntheri Jordan & Evermann, 1896 Jordan & Evermann, 1896 | synonym |
| Xiphorus helleri Heckel, 1848 Heckel, 1848 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus helleri brevis Regan, 1907 Regan, 1907 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus hellerii guentheri Jordan & Evermann, 1896 Jordan & Evermann, 1896 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus guentheri Jordan & Evermann, 1896 Jordan & Evermann, 1896 | synonym |
| Poecilia helleri (Heckel, 1848) (Heckel, 1848) | synonym |
| Xiphophorus helleri Heckel, 1848 Heckel, 1848 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus rachovii Regan, 1911 Regan, 1911 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus strigatus Regan, 1907 Regan, 1907 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus helleri helleri Heckel, 1848 Heckel, 1848 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus helleri strigatus Regan, 1907 Regan, 1907 | synonym |
| Xiphophorus jalapae Meek, 1902 Meek, 1902 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Heckel, J. J. (1848). Eine neue Gattung von Poecilien mit rochenartigem Anklammerungs-Organe. Sitzungsberichte Der Kaiserlichen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe, 1 (1–5): 289–303, Pls. 8–9. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5CFPC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.