Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center

WELCOME TO THE XIPHOPHORUS GENETIC STOCK CENTER

 Dedicated to the Poeciliid fish genus Xiphophorus.

The Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center houses 24 of 26 species of the freshwater genus Xiphophorus. In their natural environment, these fishes live in drainages in eastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, with most of the described species living in Mexico. The taxa make up three groups: the Northern Swordtails, the Southern Swordtails, and the Platyfish.

The purpose of this site is to provide information to both the research community and the general public about the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center. As a national resource for research animals, we welcome opportunities to share fish with the research community for further research, development, and application.

Select Xiphophorus Publications:

Walter, R.B., Lu, Y., Savage, M. (2019). The Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center. “Genetic Resources of Model Organisms – Strategies for Conservation”, R. Jarret (ed.), CRC Press Boca Raton, FL, Taylor & Francis Publishing, Chapter 13, 25 pgs.

Franchini, P., Jones, J., Xiong, P., Kneitz, S., Gompert, Z., Warren, W.C., Walter, R.B., Meyer, A., Schartl. M. (2018). Long-term experimental hybridisation results in a heterologous transition and the evolution of a new sex chromosome in swordtail fish, Nature Comm. 9:5136, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07648-2

Schartl, M., Walter. R.B. (2016). Xiphophorus and Medaka Cancer Models, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology: Cancer and Zebrafish Mechanisms, Techniques and Models, D. Langenau (ed.), Springer Publishing, pp527-548, Switzerland, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30654-4_23

Lu, Y., Boswell, M., Boswell, W., Kneitz, S., Klotz, B., Regneri, J., Savage, M., Postlethwait, J., Warren, W., Schartl, S., Walter. R.B. (2018). Gene Expression Variation and Parental Allele Inheritance in a Xiphophorus Interspecies Hybridization Model, PLoS Genetics, December 26, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007875

Kang Hyoun, J., Schartl,M., Walter, R.B., and A.  Meyer (2013) Comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of all species of swordtails and platies (genus Xiphophorus) uncover a hybrid origin of a swordtail fish, Xiphophorus monticolus.  BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13:25-44.

Cui, R., Schumer, M., Kruesi, K., Walter, R., Andolfatto, P., and G. Rosenthal (2013) Phylogenomics reveals extensive reticulate evolution in Xiphophorus fishes.  Evolution, 67(8): 216-2179.

Walter, R.B., Kazianis, S., Hazlewood, L., Johnston, D., Kumar, J. (2005)  "The Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center."  In: Viviparous Fishes, M. C. Uribe and H. Grier (eds.), New Life Publications (ISBN# 0-9645058-5-1), Homestead, Fl.  PP. 343-350.

Kallman, K.D., Walter, R.B., Morizot, D.C., and S. Kazianis  (2004) " Two new species of Xiphophorus (Poeciliidae), from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, with a Discussion of the Distribution of the X. clemenciae Clade."  American Museum Novitates, 3441:1-34.

Walter, R.B. and S. Kazianis (2001)  "Xiphophorus Interspecies Hybrids as Genetic Models of Induced Neoplasia", J. Inst. for Lab. Animal Res. (ILAR J), National Academy Press, 42(4): 299-322.

XGSC Funding from NIH

Funding to maintain and enhance the XGSC is primarily from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, Division of Comparative Medicine (R24-011120).

Questions and Comments

Questions and/or feedback regarding this webpage should go here; all other inquiries regarding Xiphophorus should be directed to the Stock Center.