Many fish could indeed change gender, that’s the males turning into females and vice versa, especially livebearer fish. There is a popular argument that guppy could change gender too. So many people said they could and so many said they couldn’t. But many arguments are based on the fact that guppies are livebearers, and many livebearers can change gender. In this article, you will learn if they can or not.
Can Guppies change gender? Although many fish could change gender, it has not been scientifically proven that guppies could change gender.
Fish changing their gender could arise because of certain conditions, for instance when the existence of such species of fish is at stake.
This simply means that if the existence of such specie is threatened either by lack of one of the genders which could only make it possible for them to bear offspring, then, the supposed female might turn to male, and the supposed male might turn to female.
Although some fish are hermaphrodites because they have both genders in their body, that’s both male and female organs, and could reproduce by themselves.
When it comes to guppies, they are not hermaphrodites because, the male is different from the female, and they need to come together to mate and reproduce.
When it comes to the male Guppies changing to female and the female changing to male, it has not been scientifically proven, but theoretically, it could be very possible.
Many people believe it could happen because guppy is a livebearer and many livebearers could do that.
But the fact is, guppies are born either male or female, so their genders are specified right from their fry stage, although you could hardly spot the difference between male and female until they grow a bit like about 1 month of age.
So, right from birth, the male is there and the female too, and they can’t possibly change their genders or become asexual as time goes by.
Although it could be possible only when their general existence is under serious extinction, anyways, it has not been scientifically proven, so we can’t possibly prove they can or they can’t, but we can only guess and give theories.
So, in my own opinion, and from what I have read so far, guppies can’t possibly change their genders, at least not when their existence is not under threat as they are born with their different genders.
Although they are livebearers, I don’t think they could change gender till it’s scientifically proven even though some other fish that belongs to this group could change gender.
Difference Between Male And Female Guppies
It’s very hard to spot the differences between these two genders when it comes to Guppy, especially their young ones.
Here are the differences or how to identify them.
Male guppies have more color than the female: Another way to identify both genders of this fish is by their colors, as the tail and fin colors of male guppies are vivid and beautiful.
The male’s fins and tails are brighter and pointed, unlike the female guppies that only have smaller and square fins.
The female guppies are not as attractive as males, as they have fewer colors.
Male guppies have colorful bodies and tails, while female guppies have faint streaks of color.
However, these colors are usually limited to the tail region.
Female guppies have a gravid spot: Female guppies have a dark gravid spot on their abdomen, near the anal fin.
This could be regarded as their stomach or womb because that’s exactly where their fry are seen when they get pregnant.
When they are pregnant, the gravid spot enlarges and becomes curvy.
The gravid spot is not seen in male guppies.
As I mentioned, this spot is like their own womb and it’s not very visible when they are still fry, but when they grow.
Because this is not in male Guppies, you could easily identify both genders from the gravid spot.
Male guppies have a gonopodium: This is the male reproductive organ in guppy fish.
It is possessed by only male guppies and it could only be visible when they grow and so, you could easily identify the male with this.
The anal fin is different in male and female guppies.
In male guppies, it’s called gonopodium. The gonopodium is long and pointed.
You can easily identify the male gonopodium in a male guppy by the time it is four weeks old.
The male inserts it into the female during mating to deposit sperm into the female’s body.
Since guppies are livebearers, fertilization occurs inside the female’s body, and the female gives birth to live fry.
Female guppies are bigger: Guppy females are larger and longer than males.
There is a big difference in size which is easily noticeable as the male guppies rarely grow as big as the female ones.
So, you can easily spot both genders by seeing their sizes.
The above are some common ways to easily identify both genders of guppy fish, but you can’t easily do that when they are still under a month.
From what we already know, this fish has 2 separate or different genders, so, it’s not very likely for one gender to somehow change to another gender all of a sudden and for no reason.
Till it’s scientifically proven, but for now it’s not very likely for such to happen.
Can Male Guppies Get Pregnant?
Some people do believe that guppies could change these various genders, that’s male becoming female, etc. The question is, can male Guppies have babies?
Can male guppies get pregnant? Guppies have male and female genders, the male fertilizes the female eggs which leads to the female getting pregnant. Male Guppies don’t get pregnant.
This is one of the reasons I don’t believe that guppies could in any way change their genders because they have both male and female genders with their different functions.
There is no way a male guppy could get pregnant because it has its work to do which is to deposit sperm cells into the female which she uses to fertilize her eggs, which in return leads to reproduction.
Based on this fact, saying that they could change gender, or the male could get pregnant, or the other way round is not logical.
So, male guppies don’t get pregnant, they only fertilize the female’s eggs.
Why Are All My Guppy Fry Females?
If you have a guppy that has delivered fry, you might be wondering why all are the same and seems to look like females.
Why are all my guppy fry females? The genders of guppy fry is not easily identifiable until they are 4 weeks old. They will seem to be the same and might be easily mistaken to be all females.
The truth is, there is no way a Guppy could only produce fry of the same gender.
Since they come in 2 different genders, it’s either male or female, so they can’t possibly reproduce only one gender.
The fry looks like a female to you because they have not started to develop their gender traits yet, give them up to a month and you could be able to easily identify them.
To easily identify each gender, check above for the instructions I gave on how to identify both genders of guppy fish.
Can You Keep Male Guppies Without Females?
naturally, the male of every animal is always the most aggressive and violent, judging by that, is it possible to keep only male Guppies?
Can you keep male guppies without females? Yes, it’s possible, but there will be a lot of aggression in such tank or pond.
It is fine to keep only male guppies, especially if you don’t want to keep the females which will make their population to expand.
To keep the guppy population in control, only male guppies could be kept, as they can’t reproduce by themselves, so you could.
If you ask me, I can only recommend keeping 4-6 of them in a big tank to curb excess aggression.
Although they will fight among themselves and might claim territories etc, but they can still live together, that’s why I suggest keeping only a minimum number of male guppies in one tank to reduce their level of aggression toward each other.
References
dnews.com
guppyexpert.com
aquagoodness.com
