Cross Breeding In Apistos

["Maladorno, Dionigi \(DRUG;Nutley\)" <DIONIGI.MALADORNO@roche.com>]

IDMiamiBob <>
wrote: <<<<Cross Breeding In Apistos
(...)The tremendous numbers of color varieties of discus nowavialable
are becuase
discriminating breeders crossed different populations of discus,
selected
carefully for a number of generations, and produced fish who are
genetically
pure discus, and colorwise are totally unique, and commercially
desirable
fish.(...)>>>>>


Just for the sake of clarification, I do not think Discus is a good
example of
cross breeding of different species. 
In nature only two species of Discus occur (S. discus, or Heckel Discus,
and 
S. aequifasciata, which includes the various green, brown and blue
forms), 
and mixed forms occur naturally, such as brown discus
with strong central bar. Even within the S. aequifasciata group, almost
all
intermediate variations between the basic color morphs can be found in
various parts of the Amazon basin. Many people therefore question the
validity of separating Discus into two species, thinking that in nature
there is just one with elevated variability. For Discus the breeders
have
therefore artificially selected and created color morphs, rather than
cross-bred different species which never do so in nature.
Of course, there are lots of examples of true cross-breeding, such as
for 
the livebearers.
So, cross-breeding two separate Apisto species, for which it's unknown
the exact source (what distributors say is often quite unreliable), and
for which it's unknown what the natural morphological variations are, 
is quite different. Are we sure that to attempt breeding a few pairs of
two 
probably different Apistos is not just a shot in the dark (besides the 
commercial aspect)?


Dionigi Maladorno
dionigi.maladorno@roche.com
This message presents personal opinions which are not necessarily those 
of my employer.