Re: spawning?

["Ed Pon" <edpon@hotmail.com>]

RDotta7777@aol.com wrote:
>What if their are a series of genes?  like eye color.  What if being a good
>parent was dominant and bad parening was the recessive.  Then we could get 
>a
>great parent, a good parent, a so-so parent, and terrible parent in the 
>same
>brood.  But if we pulled the eggs, then someone might get the good egg and
>someone might get the bad.  But down the line, the dominants could again 
>rise
>up and take over.
>
I don't believe in the bad parenting gene because I believe that the
bad gene should have been bred out by evolution.  Bad parents wouldn't pass 
on their genes so most parents should be fish should be naturally good 
parents having their good parenting characteristics "fixed".

Dr Ron Coleman at UC Berkeley in California conducted some experiments and 
gave a talk at the Pacific Coast Cichlid Associaton a couple of years ago 
about his findings on the cichlid proclivity for eating their eggs.  From 
what little I recall, his study was done on some riverine cichlid.  Dr 
Coleman's research seemed to indicate that when conditions were better for 
raising fry to adulthood, the parents were more likely to expend the energy 
to raise the fry.  When conditons make the expenditure energy to raise fry 
to adulthood less likely to "pay off", then the eggs (energy) was consumed 
by the parents.  Larger quantities of eggs increases the likelihood of the 
parents passing on their genes to the future generations, and as such, the 
research figures indicated the the likelihood that the parents will raise 
the fry increased.

I believe that dwarf cichlids are less likely to eat their eggs if they feel 
they are more able to hide the fry from predators--this translates into 
tanks that have heavy plant growth, lots of hiding places, and not very many 
disturbances--as in understocked tanks.  The tendency to raise small 
cichlids in small, very clean (bare) tanks may actually contribute to the 
egg-eating behavior that's often seen in dwarf cichlids and discus.  Just my 
two cents worth.


_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com.
For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
email apisto-request@listbox.com.
Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!