Hybrids

[Brackon]

I am just wondering if there are any hybrids that are normal in the hobby. I see in cichlids there are things like flowerhorns in the south/central cichlid hobby and then OB and Dragonblood/Firefish in the African cichlid clique of the hobby.
Could something like a cross between a spotted and a stripped pleco be made to become a new hybrid that could be bred back to itself? (Panaqolus albomaculatus x Panaqolus albivermis)
I am not going to try this of course but I was wondering if possible mostly because I want to keep these two species together and wondered what the offspring would look like if breeding ever occurred.

[Shane]

Brackon,
Search "hybrid" and you will find many threads. 498 to be exact.
-Shane

[b.reder]

I have always been fascinated by this topic. It comes up in lizard husbandry, bird breeding, and many other plant and animal types. Many of the commercial plants we enjoy are products of hybridization. I dare say the orchid business, as we know it today, would not exist without two hundred years of hybridization. Food grains and fruits have benefitted from the process. What would the world do without its pluots or plumcots?
Yet the hobbyist, who dares breed two different species of animals, is sure to be derided by his peers. Are they in some way reducing the natural numbers of birds, lizards, fish, etc.in the world? Are they tainting the original species? Are they perpetrating a fraud upon the public? Creating and foisting a potential Frankenstein animal upon the world?
I'm sure there will be several reasons given. Let's see.

[Narwhal72]

b.reder.

The very simple answer is yes.

Because of hybridization and genetic engineering, many wild forms of plants such as wheat and corn are now threatened or extinct. It is now next to impossible to find maize or wheat as it existed 100 years ago. Cross pollination with man made varieties has added new genes into their genome.

In the case of fish, there are several species of fish that are now threatened because of introduction of a similar looking fish that are hybridizing with the native fish. Examples include Running River Rainbowfish, Victorian Cichlids, Herichthys labridens "Media Luna", etc...

In the aquarium hobby. There are only so many aquariums in the world. For every hybrid fish kept in an aquarium that's one less wild type fish being kept in captivity. For species that are not threatened with habitat destruction in the wild this is not a problem. For species that may depend on captive propagation once their native habitat is wiped out by habitat destruction (Belo Monte Dam being a prime example) it could be catastrophic if the species is not maintained by hobbyists in large numbers.

I don't try to villify people that keep hybrids. But there is an environmental cost of keeping these fish.
Andy