Re: Albinism and Aggression

["Mike Jacobs" <mjacobs2@tampabay.rr.com>]

David....................are you sure that the young fry is an albino??????
There is a white strain of A. cacatuoides going around.  Since you mentioned
that the orange Flash was the 'pappa' then it might be possible that the
inbreeding (not necessarily bad) to produce the Orange flash might have the
white gene in there somewhere............................either way that's
exciting to possibly follow that up!

Mike

Mike Jacobs
Inca 50's In Stock Now!
SOUTHERN APISTOS
Wild Peruvian Imports...Plus
http://www.southernapistos.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "David A. Youngker" <nestor10@mindspring.com>
To: "Apistogramma Mailing List" <apisto@listbox.com>
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 4:44 PM
Subject: Albinism and Aggression


> I've often seen it stated that albinism isn't conducive to longevity in
the
> wild, but until I had an albino appear in one of my batches of fry I
thought
> it was merely a matter of camouflage or pattern recognition. Now it seems
as
> though I might have a chance to observe the phenomenon a little more
> closely.
>
> I've a 38-gallon tank with breeding Borellii and what was a pair of fine
> Orange Flash Cockatoos (both provided by Tomoko, by the way, and are the
> usual fine specimens people have come to expect of her). My original
intent
> was to limit their numbers by maintaining them in a community setting, but
> for once that backfired in that the male Orange Flash died shortly after
> helping produce the first "litter" and now I'm hoping the remainder of the
> brood contains at least one male. Since the tank is heavily planted and
> decorated, the best I could hope for is to pull the few adults and the
> school of dithers and let all of the fry continue on, but that's another
> story.
>
> Meanwhile, it seems that an albino has appeared and finally come out of
> hiding among the vegetation. It's a little under one-half inch SL right
now,
> and carries the general shape of a developing female, but between its
still
> young age and size and the lack of any coloration it's a little difficult
to
> tell which species it is at present. (Since the OFs are more "inbred" than
> the Borelliis, my first instinct is toward recessivism in the Cockatoos.)
>
> Whatever it is, though, the little sucker's having a tough time of it. It
> seems to be harrassed by almost everything in the tank, from adults to
> dithers - right down to other fry one third its size. And every time it
> comes out into the open, almost the *entire tank* will rush it. Initially
I
> thought it might be something a little off-beat - like perhaps the lack of
> coloration might make it appear either sick or dying and thus easy prey.
>
> Instead, after closer observation, it appears as though its mere
_presence_
> somehow offends the other fish and causes more of a defensive response
than
> a hunger attack. Only the Otocinclus leave it alone.
>
> Does anyone out there have much experience with albinism and be willing to
> compare notes or trade ideas on testing responses?...
>
>
> -Y-
>
> David A. Youngker
> nestor10@mindspring.com
>
>
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