If this in any help. I have worked with 236, zebras and 173 and here is what I can tell you. Of the three fish the 236 begin spawning the soonest. I usually think 3 or more years to get a decent colony of 173 or zebras to the point of being a spawning group from hatching out. The 236 appear to cut a 1/3 off this time.
I can also tell you that a person I trust on wild fish has opined recently in a conversation that zebras and 173 are species (zebras are described) but he felt what we consider as 236 to be hybrids. I cannot say if he is correct in this or not. I leave this to people more expert than I am.
I can also tell you that there apparently is a breeder or two working with 236 to create what are best called a "super white" variation. This is the same sort of line breeding project that produces the sorts of betta, guppy, angel, discus and bn varieties we see, among others. To me this gives further support to my belief that 236 reach maturity faster. If one accepts that 3 years is about how long it takes for zebras or 173 to be spawnable, then to get through several generations into fixing a trait, one would be looking at about 10 years or a bit more. On the other hand a fish that can be spawned in two years would cut that time down to about 6 years or so as in the 236. Just this man's opinion as always.
Finally, I am far from the only one offering these fish in the USA let alone having spawned them.
Here are a couple of my typically poor pics I shot in the 236 tank yesterday:
... Wait, no - it's not going to happen.
)
