Notho hybrides?

[erikthur]

I know that this is a sensitive subject but so far I am only asking.
Is there any knowledge about Notho hybrids?
I seem to have only females of 2 species and surplus males of a third species and I know my personal feeling of having fun.
If they, by some accident, end up in the same aquarium - what to expect?

[TyroneGenade]

The male Nothos will certainly try their luck and probably win the gamble. What you do with the eggs is totally upto you...

What species are they? This could be an interesting experiment. N. guentheri x korthausae hybrids are fertile at least to the 4th generation (so I am told) but the 4th generation fish don't look very good (so I am told).

I doubt you cold get fish like melanospilus to cross with fish like foerschi or palmqvisti, likewise janpapi, lourensi and kilomberoensis won't simply cross with other fish species as the females will view the males as not being "their type."

The hyrbid offspring may look quite appealing in a display tank.

tt4n

[erikthur]

The surplus males are as you guessed yours foerschi.
I have 3 female melanospilus (with black spots) and 7 palmquisti (at least still looking like females 1 month after hatching).

[TyroneGenade]

The palmqvisti may yet surprise you... If the melanospilus females don't eat the male foerschi you can try your luck but I don't expect resounding sucess. These two fish occur sympatricly at Soga and Bagamoyo and will have developed means to tell each other apart. The palmqvisti and foerschi should get on a like a house on fire... In fact there may be a naturally occuring hybrid population. At the AIK convention Steffen Fick gave a talk on collecting in Tanzania and Kenya and presented a slide of a "foerschi" with the bright yellow foerschi nose and the beautifully patterned palmqvisti dorsal/anal fin... When I asked him if he still had this strain he said he didn't... I never bothered to ask him why... damn.

tt4n

[erikthur]

The foerschi males are 2+ mo old.
The melanospilus females are 1+ mo old.
Nobody will eat anybody I guess

[TyroneGenade]

Just one more thing before the Killi-Puritans come to put my nautghy bits in a vice: DO NOT DISTRIBUTE ANY HYBRID FISH EVER!!! What you do with them at home is totally upto you.

tt4n

[erikthur]

understood

[erikthur]

Just for the record - the foerschi and the melanospilus do not mix well.
One melanospilus female literally chewed the foerschi male's ***.
However, the foerschi and the palmquisti seems to enjoy each others company well.