FishProfiles.com Message Forums

With all the talk about Glo-Fish, i was wondering what animal anyone would combine with a Danio?

I would probably combine a Komodo Dragon or a Koala with a danio, just to see how awkward it would be

-a solidary predator, the firetruck stalks its prey

Putting a fragment of DNA modeled after a gene found in one type of animal into the genome of another doesn't really create a hybrid...

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

im against hybridization - nothing good ever comes of it, only bad..
Why bother messing with a natural fish to make a man made one!?
All the "locale" hybridazation that would happen in the wild (ie with malawi cichlids etc) has already happened..
There is actually an american guy who "specialises" in hybrids, two headed turtles and the such..

im against hybridization - nothing good ever comes of it, only bad..

Actually, plenty of good stuff comes from hybridization... In agriculture, one can create hardier varieties of plants by breeding two different morphs or species together, and plenty of extremely hardy cattle breeds have been created by hybridizing Domestic Cattle (Bos taurus, domesticated in Europe) with Zebus (Bos indicus, domesticated in tropical Asia). On a similar note, hybrids between Domestic Cattle and American Bison (Bison bison) are widely used because of their hardiness in the subzero temperatures and drought conditions common in many areas of North America. And of course we all know about mules, horse/donkey hybrids, which are one of the most widely-used pack animals in the entire world.

In a non-agricultural context, natural hybridization is known to create completely new species. A few years back there were stories in the news about how two North American native Lonicera fly species hybridized with each other to create an entirely new, fertile species that fed exclusively on a widespread but non-native honeysuckle plant. Several species of all-female, parthenogenic Whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus exist in southwestern North America, and these are thought to be the result of hybridizing between different mixed-sex species. When it comes to fish, a type of molly called Poecilia formosa is another all-female species that arose through natural hybridization.

Furthermore, human-induced hybridization in animals is useful for studying how different animals are related. It is thought that all kingsnakes, gophersnakes, and North American ratsnakes are decended from a single Elaphe species that migrated to the continent from Asia something like 10,000 years ago. Consequently, all of these species can produce perfectly fertile hybrids with each other and are extremely closely-related, despite now being classified in several different genera. The same is true for rattlesnakes (even Crotalus x Sistrurus are not too rare), though this group did originate in North America. Keep in mind that although most research happens with human-created hybrids, all of these snakes are known to breed with each other in the wild as well (see natural Lampropeltis x Pituophis hybrid here).

Really the only time hybrids pose a problem is when people breed them for non-scientific purposes and sell the offspring as pure animals, or irresponsibly let their hybrid animals taint pure strains of the species, either in captivity or in nature (by releasing hybrids into ecosystems). Both of these are growing problems with the aquarium and reptile-keeping hobbies, but that shouldn't be a reason to dismiss the usefulness of hybrids in general.

EDIT: Also, those two headed turtles are not hybrids at all, but rather a form of spontaneous conjoined twinning (which has nothing to do with genetics).

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

i see everyone has a bad sense of humor

HYPOTHETICALLY what if you could combine any animal with a danio what would that animal be?

-a solidary predator, the firetruck stalks its prey

Natalie, i see your point, but i am still in firm belief that it dosnt benefit the hobbyist or the tropical fish themselves or the trade.

oh, and hypothetically, i would combine a skunk to a dog..

I'm with Natalie on this one. However, I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I don't want to step on anyone's toes, so I won't say more.

And Mez... dog/skunk... heh... nice

Natural hybridization is not as uncommon as many seem to care to think, but that is besides the point. In a commercial and efficacy-related matter, hybridization, as stated, has been more than useful in advancing agricultural resource solidification (wheat, HYVs, and probably over half of all conventional fruits, anyone?), though this may result in undesired cross pollination, similar to problems underlined by GM crops.

As for hobbyist related woes, I have no problems with the ideas of hybrid circulation; some of them are, in all honesty, quite cool (RTCxrandom doradid--that's fascinating). However, I do have a problem with them being bred indiscriminately such that I end up with some crappy Czech bred mochokid that I paid good money for as, say, a granny, but end up with some random rift lake mix. A hybrid should be marketed as such. Animals indicated as such are not a bane to the hobbyist trade at all; if anything, they make it increasingly interesting. Honestly, the "natural organism" argument is invalidated as soon as the fish is captured and plopped into an aquarium.

There are multiple forms of polycephaly--genetic cause cannot be excluded.

You gotta be careful with science-based hypotheticals, they end up just like this!

With a danio eh....Ohhh! I know! A chinese crested dog. Or perhaps an armadillo for whe they got a bit big for their britches and took on the huge big fish in the tank.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

" You gotta be careful with science-based hypotheticals, they end up just like this!"

Most people realize the post was in jest. It is just more fun to argue.

Alpacas seem to have a nice temperament. I would isolate the gene responsible for that and insert it into a komodo dragon. That way it would let me pat it.

Or maybe a domestic dog's temperament into the komodo dragon, that way could take it for walks. Would not be very good at barking at intruders though. Nothings perfect.

Fun thread

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

idk, im pretty sure a komodo dragon would be better without barking

when i think of komodo dragon barking i think of that smoker's cough that the weird lady at a funeral home( ya know the one that wears a turquoise flower muumuu and red bead necklaces) would have

-a solidary predator, the firetruck stalks its prey

True. No barking needed. All they have to do is show up and your house is as safe as...houses.

Hey, you know that lady too?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

ha, i'd combine that lady with a danio

And i think we all have a bit of that barking-cough lady inside of us

we all tend to make old person growls and be single minded at times

grrr gruff!!

-a solidary predator, the firetruck stalks its prey