>
>On Sun, 25 Aug 1996 Cary Hostrawser wrote:
>
>>I recently received an response to the RSG Species Maintenance
>>check off list with a species I'm unfamiliar with. It was called
>>Melanotaenia marci. Has anybody heard of a new species carrying this
>>name? Or is this actually some new cross or sport coming into the
>>hobby that somebody has decided to give a species name to?
>>I'd hate to put a species on the list that doesn't exist :~)
>
>Hi Cary,
>
>Melanotaenia marci is a cross intoduced by a (I'm ashamed to say) Dutch
>commercial breeder.
>
>Regards, Wim Heemskerk
Thanks for the info Wim. I'll have to let him know what he's got.
Any idea which fish were crossed on this one?
Accidental crosses are bad enough, but purposeful crosses and then
giving it a taxonomic name is really carrying things a bit far. But
this isn't the only example of this. I've been seeing a fish out of
Asia that carries the trade name Trifasciata, which it is not, but
many experienced fish keepers have bought this fish thinking they have
a tri.
Just a theoretical question - if one of these crosses escaped into the
wild and became a viable population, would it eventually be recognised
as a species?
Cary Hostrawser
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