Why? What do you think led to the expression of those traits? Mutations through hybridization and line-breeding. Same with fancy goldfish and dogs. Somebody noticed a mutation in the genes that either enhanced an existing trait or created a new one and then set about fixing it into a lineage. Doesn't change the species code much. Just adjusts what is expressed and how strongly it is expressed. But in the FH many different fish were used, so it's not just mutations that give FH their odd looks and color palates, it's also a grab bag of genepools and subsequent selective breeding. So instead of having something like a single mutated species, we have a mutated who-knows-what. That kind of genetic uncertainty, the not knowing how truly cut-and-paste a FH is, that's what keeps me away. If somebody asks me what this fish is, I would have to admit that I don't know and then have to explain that they are made of many other fish. That just reminds me of how they make hot dogs.
And a few pages back someone said that two animals capable of producing offspring being considered the same species? I was under the impression, taxonomically, that this was how a genus could be defined.
