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iphophorus individuals develop internally within females. The process of embryonic development takes roughly 21.9 days. Dr. William Tavolga extensively studied the embryonic development and developed a staging system that is still utilized today. Dr. Tavolga described 26 stages of development in his landmark paper entitled "Embryonic Development of the Platyfish (Platypoecilus) and the Swordtail (Xiphophorus), and their Hybrids." Please note that the Genus name "Platypoecilus" was changed to "Xiphophorus" at a later time and is equivalent. Dr. Tavolga's work encompassed part of his dissertation at New York University (1949) and was published in The Bulletin of The American Museum of Natural History (1949, Volume 94, Article 4, pp. 161-230). The AMNH has generously allowed access to the original work of Dr. Tavolga through an Adobe Acrobat file, that can be printed by selecting "Print as image" in the print dialogue of most printer drivers. It is a 68 page manuscript with numerous illustrations and is highly recommended reading. Special thanks to Amanda Bielskas of AMNH. If you have difficulty downloading and viewing the above document in your browser or if you are unable to print it, a smaller version of this file is also available.
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