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RE: Judging fish (and not for shows) - a LONG editorial
You make some very good points Bill. I wonder if the slides you mentioned
that are used to train judges could be posted.
GM
-----Original Message-----
From: William Vannerson [mailto:William_Vannerson at ama-assn_org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 10:52 AM
To: KillieTalk at aka_org; killies at mejac_palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Judging fish (and not for shows) - a LONG editorial
Just a thought for conversation.
I know that kilies are judged in shows not against each other because of the
different species in a given class. But, rather, against a standard norm
for what that fish should look like. The AKA judging program has (or had) a
training/testing program to certify judges that's used to test potential
judges. So a slide of A. nigripinnis is shown and the applicant scores the
fish based upon what an Austrolebias should look like. And, therefore,
that's how the judging is done at shows and conventions.
Okay. But how do the breeders know what an A nigripinnins should look like
and, therefore, manage their breeding program in order to achieve or
maintain that look?
We've heard how many killie's appearance has drifted over the years to the
point where it no longer truly resembles the fish caught in the wild. I;m
not referring to sports, but to a natural deteriation of physical attributes
over successive inbreeding without natural selection culling out the unfit
or oddly colored fish.
Newbies, and I'll include myself in this category because I've only been in
the hobby a few short years, have no way to determine what the standards are
or should be. Experienced hobbyists have been attending shows for years and
have come to learn what attributes judges look for in scoring fish. But
even this becomes a self-perpetuating prophocy over time if the judges
themselves don't have the correct norm to use as a standard.
So we hear comments, such as "I remember what Blue Gularis used to look like
in the 60's!" Is it a natural progression of captive fish that they will
eventually evolve into somethink that has completely different appearances
than their wild ancestors? Or is there a way to educate breeders on what a
particular species should look like and what attributes are important when
selecting and maintaining breeding stock?
I fear most breeders, especially the newer ones, tend to purchase one or two
pairs of fish from someone and that then becomes their "norm" as they have
no other point of reference. Whether or not that particular bag of fish
that arrives in the mail or the runner hands off at an auction resembles
it's original ancestors in inconsiquential and a new species standard starts
to develop as the new breeder raises fish that resemble his or her new
addition.
One of the untapped benifits of the internet is that it is easier than ever
to be able to look up information on many killies and to see accompaning
photos of these gems. But there's very little reference to whethor or not
these fish in the images are typical for that species or not. Also, as most
killie keepers know, photos often do not do these fish justice and can even
be misleading. Mr. Wildekamps drawings combined with text description are
probibly the most accurate way in determining a standard. But even those
tools fall short in describing what to look for in the ideal specimine. Of
course they were never meant to perform such a role.
I do know that nothing compares to actually atending club shows and meetings
and looking at the fish and talking with the Ol' Timers. But even at club
meetings and shows you are not going to find a full assortment of fish
available or purchase. So it's possible that one can be the first in an
area to purchase a fish and not know if that fish is an accurate
represetation of the species. Then it's bred and distributed and sets a
geographical norm for that area.
Or maybe it just doesn't matter. So what if the fish has changed appearance
over the years as long as the folks in the hobby are content with the
current appearance as being the norm. Or does it matter?
Bill Vannerson
McHenry, IL
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/william_vannerson
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