Vanishing Species

[Pegasus]

According to my readings on the various forums some of the Hemichromis species are in danger of being wiped out due to there being no original TRUE species left.

The reference was to the Jewel Cichlids, which I have bred many times, but apparently it is almost impossible to find a fish that has not been crossbred in some way.

Is this the case in NZ ?

[ajbroome]

Pegasus said...

> ... it is almost impossible to find a fish that has not been

> crossbred in some way.

>

> Is this the case in NZ ?

I wouldn't be suprised. Most of our fish come from south east

asian exporters and are similar to those in the rest of the world.

When there are several closely related species in the aquarium

trade, you can never be sure the ones you're looking at haven't

been 'mongrelised' to some degree by some well meaning person

looking to 'improve' them. Just look at a lot of the Psuedotropheus

types out there at the moment, almost none of them look anywhere

near as good as the wild type fish.

In the killifish hobby, we generally try to keep populations of the

same species apart, just in case they don't turn out to be the

same species after all. To help with this there is a move to keep

the 'collectors codes' always associated with the fish. Generally

a fish from a known location is considered a better bet for the

serious hobbist since at least everyone knows what you've got

and you're able to trade fish or eggs with people who have fish

from *exactly* the same pond/stream without worrying about

hybrids etc. Fish from unknown locations are generally called

'Aquarium Strains' and while they still may be pretty and

worthwhile (especially when nothing else is available) many of

the more serious hobbyists will prefer known fish.

There is some further info at:

http://www.intellweb.com/gcka/specpopl.htm

http://www.intellweb.com/gcka/lnames.html

http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/month ... 00197.html

Andrew.

[Pegasus]

Good links Andrew,

Many thanks.