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Re: Fp. gardneri Akure BLUE

Actually Tom, if you go back even before the time period which  you allude
to, you will find that Scheel and Clausen were collecting both yellow finned
and blue morphed gardneri. Someone has suggested that these fish did more to
spread the hobby to new people than any other killie (even the better
publicized lyretails and blue gularis.)  Of course in the 50s they were
called A. calliurum (aka the yellow gardneri) and A. calliurum ahli (the
blue form). George Maier told me that killie people even then had a good
hunch that those were names of convenience. Later Clausen described them as
nigerianum. Scheel sorted it out in ROTOW in 1968.

My impression (better informed people please feel free to correct...) is
that the strains were kept separate. Then in the early 70's someone
suggested mixing the strains to keep up the vigor of the strain. I mentioned
this in a thread on the subject on this list last year. I don't remember
what party or parties suggested that mixing back then - NOT Tony T., not
Roger Langton though.

That was an unfortunate mistake in that some people did cross the strains
and produced quite a variety of intermediate forms. I recall a very
impressive 20 gallon tank of those crosses in a shop on Howard Street on the
far north side of Chicago (not in George's shop). I don't think that those
were treasured by specialists as much as the originals.

It was understood, by the way, that theses were crosses within a species,
not hybrids between species. Right after killie commandment #1 (thou shalt
change 20-30% of the water weekly) came commandment # 2, thou shalt not
cross killie species - unless it was in a controlled scientific experiment
and the fry were not released.

Also alluded to was the account of Marshall Ostrow's graduate project
experiment where he used some sort of Y tube to show males of both strains
to selected females. According to my informant, the females chose males of
the appropriate yellow or blue color morph. Killie behavior in nature may be
quite different from in an aquarium where well fed, reproductively urgent
males will mate with everything in sight and it may well be that in the wild
these morphs co-exist without crossing. There the females choose the males
with which they will mate.

I recall this being responded to on this list. I don't think we entirely
corroborated the account.

You are right on target Tom in suggested that many of us were distracted
(dare we say seduced?) by the newer strains of gardneri. The first to go
were the Akure crosses. I recall longingly a nice pure strain of the blues
which I had. Fry didn't get moved out of their tank because Misaje, a much
more red sport of Misaje, Nsukka, mamfensis, lacustris, "obuduensis",
Ossing, Jos Plateau and a bunch of mirabile/mirabilis were demanding
attention, tank space and effort.

Naturally I wish I had them all back. I also wish I had an indoor
warehouse/lab/fishroom the size of a football field and a well paid staff
(keep answering those Publisher's Clearinghouse offers - smirk) to maintain
them. Heck, I wish I had the experience I have now with the body and energy
(!) of a 20 year old too. ;)

All the best!

Scott

> Actually,  Fp. gardneri Akure used to throw both color varieties - there
> never was specifically a 'blue' form.  However, the fish would sometimes
> produce a lot of the 'blue (white edges to the fins instead of yellow).
To
> be honest Joel, I have not seen the blue sport in many many years.
>
> Tom


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