breed polleni large and small spot together

[lostnight]

From what I've understand, the Paratipapia species "bleekeri" has been deleted and the fish that used to be known as "bleekeri" are now P. polleni "large spot". Am I correct with this so far? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

If this is true, does it kind of open the door to breed large spots with small spots, not that people haven't tried it already. I liked it better when bleekeri was considered a distinct species, but now, is it fair game to openly breed all Polleni species together?

Not that I plan on doing that, but I was wanting to open the conversation on it.

 

[ewok]

mmm i guess in a way it's like breeding midas and labiatus and you get the common 'red devil'...
but i think it would be nice if large spots remain well, large spots without having small spot genetics interfering. they really look much nicer with those huge gold blotches is my two cents.

 

[wannaarro]

Ya, I don't think it's an open invitation nor a good idea to start crossbreeding, there are enough problems with maintaining/rescuing Malagasy species as it is. I've a small spot, and if I were ever to breed her, it would be to a small spot. Guess it's just personal philosophy . . . .

 

[lostnight]

Definitely, I would prefer polleni "large spot" to have remained bleekeri instead, it would help keep strains/species pure in my opinion. But I'm just a hobbyist, not an ichthyologist, so I'm rather out of my league trying to tell scientists what they should do.

 

[ciclasoman]

Greetings:
I will venture to say that because there has been a slow down about information regarding cichlids from Madagascar, most people are unaware that Paratilapia bleekeri is considered extinct or at least the original popoulation collected as paratype. To complicate matters, there are many different species within the genus Paratilapia- it is currently a huge mess but genetically are very different- so PLEASE insist on NOT crossbreeding these beasts- or you'll end up with fish with irregular spots or no spots at all- rather unattractive- a hybrid nonetheless.