> How about female choice?
Well sure, there are a lot of possibilities, I just said we don't really know
why. :-) It could be where they spawn, or when they spawn too.
> In nature there should be enough room for the females to ellude all
> frustrated males of different species. In a tank situation less possible
> for the female to run away. (maroon you on a small, deserted island with
> a normally uncoperative member of the opposit sex, and given time see what
> heppens ;-)
What can happen during the dry season? Habitats get smaller and sometimes you
might not get too many mates of the same species left in your habitat.
> Perhaps your studies will show that the relationships between maccullochi
> and nigrans divered a longer time ago as compared to the divergence of the
> tris and splendida groups....
Actually, everything so far suggests tris are the most distantly related of
all the Australian rainbows relative to each other and by a fair ways too.
Cheers
Peter