Firemouth X Ellioti Hybrids

[joegriggs]

Hi,

My female Firemouth decided to lay with my male Ellioti. I didn't think much of it as previously the Firemouth had tried it with the Tibar, twice, but although the eggs seem fertile they disappeared after a few days with no sign of fry. This time though the eggs have hatched and the fry are now around a month and reaching an inch, although there is still not much colouration.

Has this happened before? I did a search online but I couldn't find any regarding those two species. I've seperated them from the main tank now, which their mum and dad managed to successfully control and protect the fry in.

Let me know if you want to see some pictures. I appreciate any interest or help!

 

[joegriggs]

Fry are Thorichthys Meeki X Thorichthys Ellioti.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Most thorichthys can/will hybridise if opportunity allows.
The fry will colour up with age.
If you do not wish to keep them for yourself the responsible thing to do would be cull them.
Hybrids are bad for the hobby as pure strains become harder to identify.

 

[joegriggs]

Most thorichthys can/will hybridise if opportunity allows.
The fry will colour up with age.
If you do not wish to keep them for yourself the responsible thing to do would be cull them.
Hybrids are bad for the hobby as pure strains become harder to identify.

Thanks for the input Stanzzzz. I gathered it was possible through the successfull spawn, but I was more curious whether it had been documented before. Seems pretty rare to find anything, if anything, related to it on the internet apart from the species being closely related.

I've kept around 15 of them, but I was only planning on keeping a few myself to see how they grow out. I have no intention to sell them!

 

[cichlidfish]

Shouldn't HYBRID threads be posted in the HYBRID forum? What is the point of having those forums if no one post in the correct place?

 

[joegriggs]

Shouldn't HYBRID threads be posted in the HYBRID forum? What is the point of having those forums if no one post in the correct place?

Sorry I'm new to the forum, I didn't realise there was a hybrid section.

 

[demler]

Their is reason you don't see them. Most people know better. They're from the same family. And they're so closely related hybrids of the two would be hard to tell what they are.

 

[joegriggs]

Their is reason you don't see them. Most people know better. They're from the same family. And they're so closely related hybrids of the two would be hard to tell what they are.

Thank you for the reply demler. I see. I posted this message with the hope of gaining some knowledge about this somewhat undocumented hybrid. So even though the two fish have different markings/colourations and to a certain degree different body shapes, they will still produce offspring almost identicle to one of the parents. From what I've read the mothers genes are more dominant, meaning you're more likely to see their features over the fathers, is this true? Appreciate any further help you may have.

 

[ehh]

Their end appearance is completely random. Unless we were talking about convict crosses. All convict crosses look like convicts haha.
They're also not common crosses because ellioti aren't common. I've never seen them for sale here.
I would say that all crosses aren't "common" when you think about it.

 

[demler]

Yeah all I'm saying is with hybrids you just never know what you're gonna get. And with them being so close you very well could end up with something that looks so close to either. Especially since ellioti are not all over the hobby. These hybrids could easily be mistaken for one of the original parents.