Point taken about hybrids re-entering the gene pool, but I still don't see where that would compell the breeders of the FH to stop breeding them.
They aren't doing this just to make ID'ing the fish hard, or to intentionally pollute the gene pool by hybridizing them and passing them off intentionally as Trimacs...
I think what I'd be more concerned about is pet shops trying to pass off a Trimac as a FH cichlid, considering the prices!
and blind cave fish do know exactly what is going on around them, whats where, whose who - because fish have a thing called a lateral line. and in the blind cave fish this is particularly sensitive. it would never mistake another fish for its own, and im sorry i missed that point b4.
How? the lat. line only tells them that there's
something there. It does not sense color or specifics about the body that would allow the fish to know if it's next to another blind cave or not.
I would think there might be some kind of hormonal signals given off, but if other fish are sufficiently close in their signals. Well, nature will take over...
"(read my posts....)"
I did and I still miss it. I've made a few excerpts here (the review topic part isn't showing the whole thread right now)
"by putting them together to breed you are putting them under unnatural conditions [also referring to sword/platy hybrids]...so that hybridisation is not natural"
By the same logic, you could say that fishkeeping as a whole is not natural... I don't think we want to go there. We have to accept that fish from very diverse habitats will be plunked together in the aquarium. What results from that is up to nature.
"we should not be allowed to pick and choose the best bits of fish we want and bring them out in one new fish. it is not natural, it is not what was intended"
Really? We do that all the time. As a species we pick what we like the best about each other, and the next generation is more likely to have those attributes (ie: bigger boobs, taller guy - more likely to get busy)
Animals in nature do the same, except their motives are more often which attributes will make the potential mate a better provider, more likely to survive, etc...
So, picking the best attributes and breeding them together into a "new and improved" animal is perfectly natural.
As for "it is not what was intended" Intended by whom? Where are the laws of nature set out in ink? Be careful now, not everyone believes in a diety...
"but fish have been put through stress and intense projects involving hormones to produce it"
Even in articles I found against the FH, no-one mentioned this. I will accept that it MAY be true, as the original creators are supposedly not releasing much info about how they came to this hybrid...
"not enough is known about the flowerhorn at present to establish if it is of good health and if it doesnt have any internal problems."
From the accounts I researched online, it sounds like they have been around awhile and living in perfect health. There are no external signs of any deformity, and breeding is reported to be easy, so it seems they are sound fish.
"what is the point of the flowerhorn? it is no better looking than the Trimac, grows to the same size, has the same temperament, so why breed it?"
I think the question is still why NOT breed it. So, it isn't any better looking to you. Obviously some people (I think they are insane to spend many thousands on that fish) think it is better looking. It's all a matter of taste.
That's like saying "why repaint your bedroom from green to blue?" Intrinsically, blue is no better than green, but someone finds it to be subjectively better.
What about chosing between the many different species of tetras, or cories. You could easily select a dozen species of each that have the same body shape, size, and temperment but I guarantee you that different people would pick different ones as their "favorite" that's exactly the same point behind the FH - some people just find it better looking...
(me, personally, I think nuchual humps look ugly, and the fish itself looks...uh...diseased with that huge red splotch on white...)
"whether flower horns breed true or not, and whether they are healthy or not, its the morailty im against"
Yes, exactly - but what morality? The breeders were not out to harm anyone, and I see nothing wrong in creating a hybrid. Simply creating a hybrid is a neutral act, neither good nor bad. The morality lays in just what is created. Obviously it would be wrong to bring a fish into creation doomed to a life of pain, or to create an animal with the intention of damaging an ecosystem. But, in this case it seems to be a regular, healthy fish intended for the aquarium trade...
) fish that is able to eat, live, and breed just fine. So, what's wrong with breeding them?
