i have a class and i ahve been given the extra credit project of finding out why CA/SA won't interbreed with africans, they don't know any difference between how far any of those continents are from each other. i have never seen a interbred african/NW cichlid, any opinions would be much appreciated.
i need a scientific answer
- Thread starter Motag 7
- Start date
I'm no scientist, but here is my opinion. The cichlid species from the two continents have been seperated for so long that the pheromones that they produce are likely to be vastly different from one another. I believe this is the most likely reason that they won't interbreed.
dogs are all the same species. Dogs look different because of selective breeding. Cichlids fall into several families and hundreds of different species if not thousands of different speices. Africans and new worlds cichlids breeding would be similiar to a cow breeding with a yak. Both are species of cattle( i think not totally sure) but I doubt they could breed and produce offspring. A better example is elephants a afirican elephant can not successfully breed with an Indian elephant but both are in the same family but not species. I think a better question and a harder to answer is why new world cichlid species inter breed and have offspring.
Try to crossbreed a fox with a mastif, or a terrier with a cape hunting dog, don'tthink it would work.
Motag 7 said:good point so .....
*form of breeding and gentic make up
then how are they still all considered cichlids if their genetic make up is that different?
just throwin that out there
thanks
As stated, dogs can interbreed between BREEDS, because a breed is just a physical varient of the same SPECIES. The cichlidae group of fish are made up of hundreds, if not more, of different species. What makes fish, a cichlid, even though they're different species? One set of nostrils (most fish have two), and a broken lateral line. That's how a species of fish gets put into the cichlid family. As for why they can't breed, other than being different species, is probably best summed up by two points. One, africans are mostly mouthbrooders, whereas CA and SA cichlids are substrate spawners. Their methods are completely different. Two, their body language and how they interact and interpret body langauge, is completely different between the two regions. What means 'hey, I want to make babies' to an african fish, might very well mean 'come any closer, and I'll rip you apart' to a CA fish.
SinisterKisses said:
100% correct.
Another factor that must not be overlooked is attraction, which is a result of evolution. Evolution has "programed" their brains into finding certain cichlids/traits sexually stimulating. A blue ram is "programed" to find other blue rams sexually attractive, not an elongated bright red 6 inch P. Zebra.
Do you find chimps (chimpanzees) sexually attractive, in other words, would you mate with one? if you do/would then you have a case of zoophillia... and that doesnt count because its not "normal".
the point I am making is- there are certain physical traits, that have been acquired through evolution to better suite/addapt to the enviornment, required for sexual stimulation to occure, both physically and mentally. traits that are usually only shared with a single species or a few very closely related species in the same genus.