If what I read was correct, Lake Victoria has become so cloudy that there is hybridization going on there now.
Are hybrids found in the wild?
- Thread starter jhutch
- Start date
Definitly.I know I was reading an article recently linking speciation to hybridization in tang cichlids.
I am a member of the ACA and the new issue of the Buntbarsche Bulletin came out. Ad Konings wrote an article on natural hybrids found in the lake. One species he found a male of was a hybrid between Pseudotropheus purpuratus and Labeotropheus fuelleborni. It is a nice looking fish. He also wrote that the zebra cichlid population of Lake Malawi is made up of a lot of hybrids. Funny how there is all this controversey over hybrids and there are so many in the wild.
I don't think that the line of reasoning that:
- If it's found in nature, it's OK.
- If it's not, then it's bad.
- Hybrids are/aren't found in nature, so they're OK/bad
is a valid one.
The ACA and many hobbyists find all sorts of fish that aren't found in nature perfectly acceptable for shows, auctions, etc...yet flowerhorns are "bad" because they're not found in nature.
I ask:
- Are EBJD found in nature?
- Are orange discus found in nature?
- Are AERs found in nature?
- Are koi angels found in nature?
- Are fancy goldfish found in nature?
- Are long-finned oscars found in nature?
- Are gold severums found in nature?
I could go on...
- If it's found in nature, it's OK.
- If it's not, then it's bad.
- Hybrids are/aren't found in nature, so they're OK/bad
is a valid one.
The ACA and many hobbyists find all sorts of fish that aren't found in nature perfectly acceptable for shows, auctions, etc...yet flowerhorns are "bad" because they're not found in nature.
I ask:
- Are EBJD found in nature?
- Are orange discus found in nature?
- Are AERs found in nature?
- Are koi angels found in nature?
- Are fancy goldfish found in nature?
- Are long-finned oscars found in nature?
- Are gold severums found in nature?
I could go on...
Some of both (line bred and hybrid)...but does it matter?
For example, depending on the latest taxonomical argument, discus could be a single species or multiple species...making "fancy discus" either a single species...or a hybrid of multiple species. Would it be OK one day...and then a BAD hybrid the next?
Either way, a bright orange discus isn't something that's found in nature...
For example, depending on the latest taxonomical argument, discus could be a single species or multiple species...making "fancy discus" either a single species...or a hybrid of multiple species. Would it be OK one day...and then a BAD hybrid the next?
Either way, a bright orange discus isn't something that's found in nature...
dogofwar;2394498; said:
but long-finned oscars, gold severums, EBJD, koi angels are for the most part still individual species, not carefully bred hodgepodge of numerous species
...so does the technicality that some of these un-natural, aquarium strains of fish are mutations of a given species...and not two species bred together...make them OK?
If you found out that a koi angel had "blood" from a different angel species in it...all of a sudden turn it "bad"?
If you found out that a koi angel had "blood" from a different angel species in it...all of a sudden turn it "bad"?
fish are no different from humans put here to breed and die of course there is hybrids in wild. like saying there are no mixed races here and i feel there is nothing wrong with them as long as you like or love them thats all that matters 
I believe there are likely more hybrids in nature than what science or people believe. Hybrids would often have different coloring or traits that might make them easier to pick off in the wild , fish such as the blue JD's are a good example of this, the gene is naturally occuring in nature and is a recessive gene, the resulting blue fry are be easily seen and eaten before reaching adult hood . There could be 1 inch blue JD fry all over the place in nature and we would never know cause the fry do not reach the 1.5 inch size due to predation. I believe that is why there are so many different species of cichlids with such radical differnces in appearance or behavior traits in the world today, a fish with a slightly different look or ability is all that was needed to make a species more productive and therefore more successful. That fish then goes around and spreads its genes around and eventually we end up with a known successful cichlid in the hobby etc..
