That was how I understood it but became confused during a recent discussion
re genetics that was way over my head and thought that there were color
variance issues also related to hybrids. There are several species of
discus though so I stay confused when it comes to them. Anyway, it appears
that rainbow and cichlid purists agree and have equal reactions over
acceptance of hybrids in the aquarium industry.
I suspect that the biggest problem is when there is a naturally occurring
color morph for which a hybrid resembles and is sold as. There are so many
africans for which most hobbyists can't tell this difference not to mention
juvenile vs adult coloration. It doesn't help that the cichlids themselves
can't tell this either and thus crossbreed readily. It would not surprise
me if this is one reason the purists are so adamant.
Then you also get into the issue of breeding for specific traits vs
biodiversity. That also appears to be frowned upon to some degree although
obviously not with discus folks who seem to be able to come up with a
hundred different names for the same discus that appears to be the same
color morph with a tiny difference in pattern.
At 11:09 AM 1/30/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Carvi, A hybrid comes from the crossing of two different species,
>a species and a hybrid or a hybrid with another hybrid. I doubt
>that there are hybrids of Discus or Angels. Just colors morphs.
>If you make a cross within a genus(betta splendens x betta coccina)
>you have a hybrid betta. If you make a cross between a betta and gourami
>you, technically, have a new genus. Creating and naming man made
>genera is commonplace with orchids but doesn't seem to be the practice
>with fish. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)
>
>Michael Serpa
>Alameda, CA USA
>
>
Carvi Shamsid-Deen
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