Glo-Fish = Danios

[gzeiger]

Breeding albinos and getting colored fish is an example of what leeser28 mentioned in passing up above.

(Actually it's even more complicate because there are several genes that can be involved, but the basic inheritance is the same).

If several genes, let's say two for easy discussion, are required to produce coloration, then it is possible for one individual to have two defective copies of the first gene but normal copies of the second. This individual would be albino because it doesn't have every gene necessary to produce pigment. A second individual might have normal copies of the first gene but defective copies of the second. It too would be albino, but the offspring of this pair would always have one normal copy of each gene and will be able to produce pigment, therefore the offspring will not be albino.

Selectively breeding the offspring over many generations can produce albinos that are very unlikely to carry any normal copies of any of the genes involved, but you couldn't know for sure without DNA testing.

 

[NUMB3RS]

Nope - just an example of Mendelian genetics. Not knowing much about color dominance in convicts, I suspect that the gene for the black coloring is dominant. If it turns out the the majority of the sperm that the black convict is producing has the gene for black coloring, all of the offspring from those sperm will be black.

Albinism is specifically a genetic defect in the gene that codes for the melanin protein or a protein that interacts with melanin to produce color as a whole. To my understanding, this is a completely different set of genes from those that determine what specific color will be produced.

lesser28, the black convict was the female, the pink was the male,lol. After thinking about it and setting up a punnett square then you could actually see the colors breakdown. The first batch of fry were all black so most of them were Dr (Dominant reccesive) when the fry had fry the gene split yet again Rr Dr Dd (Reccesive reccesive, Dominant Reccesive, Dominant dominant) I never got to find out how the other fry were gonna look since we had WAY to many fry so we gave them all away! even the parents

Key:
Black Convict (Female): Dominant
Pink Convict (Male): Reccesive

 

[leeser28]

Breeding albinos and getting colored fish is an example of what leeser28 mentioned in passing up above.



If several genes, let's say two for easy discussion, are required to produce coloration, then it is possible for one individual to have two defective copies of the first gene but normal copies of the second. This individual would be albino because it doesn't have every gene necessary to produce pigment. A second individual might have normal copies of the first gene but defective copies of the second. It too would be albino, but the offspring of this pair would always have one normal copy of each gene and will be able to produce pigment, therefore the offspring will not be albino.

Selectively breeding the offspring over many generations can produce albinos that are very unlikely to carry any normal copies of any of the genes involved, but you couldn't know for sure without DNA testing.

Good point, but I think to actually be albino you have to lack the melanin protein itself. There are other variations due to other gene, but the animals wouldn't be true albinos they'd be something like hypomelanistic (like the bearded dragons from above that have no skin pigment but do have colored (not pink) eyes). So, to get a true albino the gene that is mutant must be the melanin gene.

 

[NUMB3RS]

True Albinos are all white with red eyes right?

 

[leeser28]

True Albinos are all white with red eyes right?

Technically pink eyes I think. But yes, you're right.

 

[NUMB3RS]

thats interesting, this thread has taught me much, well lesser28 did atleast. What about albino oscars? are they true albinos?

 

[leeser28]

thats interesting, this thread has taught me much, well lesser28 did atleast. What about albino oscars? are they true albinos?

There are true albino oscars - I think there are also hypomelanistic oscars.

 

[NUMB3RS]

what about the platinum angelfish? i know they arent true albinos but how do they get that white body black eyes? Do all animals have the defective gene?

 

[leeser28]

what about the platinum angelfish? i know they arent true albinos but how do they get that white body black eyes? Do all animals have the defective gene?

Color variations in animals typically happen for environmental reasons. Example - let's look at the cat family -- specifically Bengal tigers vs. lions. Given their surroundings their coloring is different -- Bengals are tawny colored with black stripes which make them harder to see in the forests where they live (if the prey can't see them, then they have more of a chance to catch dinner!). Lions are the color of the plains - again making it harder for prey to spot them stalking.

Evolutionarily speaking biologists call this adaptation. Just a HYPOTHETICAL situation: let's say that long, long ago that were lions were bright red. A random mutation happens that makes a beige colored lion. It's time to hunt - the antelope see the red lion coming, but don't see the beige lion. It is most likely that the beige colored lion will get more food, making him nice and strong and healthy. He mates, and some of the offspring carry is color mutation. Low and behold, they are more able to hunt effectively than their red siblings, they are nice and strong and healthy - therefore preferred mates. This happens for quite a few generations, and pretty soon the red lions are almost gone, and the beige ones are now in the majority. Again, a simplified version, but the idea follows this logic.

So, platinum angelfish. After that whole paragraph above, I don't think that they exist in the wild so that's not the reason for their color. (at least I couldn't find any references to them living in the wild). If someone wants to find a new color variation of some animal or fish, they can breed a couple of different colored ones together to attempt to get the desired color. Once they do get the color they want, or something close, they use that offspring and breed again trying to get the color or duplicate the color. Once it's been duplicated through enough generations the majority of any more offspring will have that color.

None of this has anything to do with the melanin protein, but one of the other genes that determines color. And you're question about the defective gene? The reality is that any animal can have a defect in any gene - that's part of the gamble of being multicellular, sexually reproductive creatures.

 

[NUMB3RS]

Oh so I guess the same rule applies to the blushing angels,ive heard that the skin covering their gills are actually transparent which makes the gills visible, i'm sure if this is very much coloration, more on the side of mutation.