Re: Rams de-selection -Reply

[William Vannerson <William_Vannerson@ama-assn.org>]

>>I am saying that if in your community so many fish are raised with
parents that a buyer assumes they are and you do not disabuse him of
this notion, you might get in trouble.<<

I'm not sure a agree with this statement.  First of all, in the case with
Angels, which was given as an example, my natural inclination would be
to assume that the eggs where artificially incubated as that is the most
common practice.

Secondly, if you are acquiring fish from a breeder or hobbyist, it's
always wise to discuss their techniques and conditions.  It's almost
natural.

Thirdly, I'm not convinced that a species evolutionary behavior can be
genetically fixed in a few short generations.  Meaning that if I remove
eggs from parents and raise the fry that they will then "pass down" a
genetic disposition to not display parental behavior.  It is possible, but I'm
not sure I totally agree, that parenting is a learned behavior.  I would
agree with this in higher level organisms but I have doubts with fish.  To
believe so would to assume a level of cognition that I'm not sure fish are
capable of.

It does seem more plausible that the innate instinct to eat eggs and/or fry
can be more attributed to our lack of ability to provide suitable conditions
for breeding and rearing.  Our tanks are woefully small and threatening
environments.  I would hazard a guess that if you were to place
non-parental rams in a suitable pond over the summer, you would have a
bunch of offspring come fall.

I am not a scientist so I can't assert my claims as being true.  And I am
willing to consider proof to the contrary, or even consider opinions for
other knowledgeable non-scientists.

Bill Vannerson
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/william_vannerson


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