The Chiapas Swordtail or Xiphophorus alvarezi is a livebearing freshwater fish

Freshwater fish

Freshwater fish are fish that spend some or all of their lives in freshwater, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 0.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, the most obvious being the difference in levels of salinity...

 of the Order Cyprinodontiformes

Cyprinodontiformes

The Cyprinodontiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising mostly small, fresh-water fish. Many popular aquarium fish, such as killifish and live-bearers, are included. They are closely related to the Atheriniformes and are occasionally included with them...

, family Poeciliidae

Poeciliidae

Poeciliidae is a family of fresh-water fish which are live-bearing aquarium fish . They belong to the order Cyprinodontiformes, tooth-carps, and include well-known aquarium fish such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail...

, and genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Xiphophorus

Xiphophorus

Xiphophorus is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The many Xiphophorus species are all called either platyfish or swordtails. The type species is X. hellerii, the Green swordtail. Platyfish and swordtails are Live-bearers, meaning...

. It is, therefore, in the same genus as the Common Platyfish and the Swordtail. Xiphophorus

Xiphophorus

Xiphophorus is a genus of euryhaline and freshwater fishes in the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The many Xiphophorus species are all called either platyfish or swordtails. The type species is X. hellerii, the Green swordtail. Platyfish and swordtails are Live-bearers, meaning...

means sword-tail in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

. The Chiapas swordtail was discovered and first described by Donn E. Rosen in 1960, along with four other species of Xiphophorus.

Description

Growing to a maximum length of around 7.5 cm, the females are larger in size than the male. The genus Xiphophorus is common in freshwater aquariums, though the Chiapas swordtail is not a marketed fish.

Ideal, suitable conditions for Chiapas Swordtails include a water temperature of around 25 - 28 °C. These are obviously benthopelagic fish. Water pH should range from 7.2 to 8.1. They are quite resilient fish. They come from Central America. Major population sites include Southern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Huehuetenango, El Quiche, and Alta Veracruz, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

. They are often found in fast-flowing rivers. In nature, schools of more females than males are common, and enjoy dense aquatic foliage to give birth in. They reproduce quickly and prefer live foods and aquatic plants.