American Killifish Association, Member Forums
https://aka.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Old World (non annuals) >> Albino australe
https://aka.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1670778941

Message started by Andy Jameson on Dec 11th, 2022 at 11:15am

Title: Albino australe
Post by Andy Jameson on Dec 11th, 2022 at 11:15am
Hello everyone.  I acquired an albino australe pair and a few eggs in August and am having limited success raising more.

My question is about history of albinos in this species. I see just a few mentions of them when searching and mainly indicating that the writer hasn't seen them and that they are rare.

Since it sounds like this was a a de novo mutation in the fishroom of my friend, I'm curious as to whether there were, for sure, other albino lines of Aphyosemion australe and whether those are extant.

Anyone got any history or current knowledge?  Thanks.

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Matt Kaufman on Dec 13th, 2022 at 3:38pm
I couldn't find much in older JAKAs on this strain; it has shown up from time to time, and is albino like gardneri are albino, white body, red eyes. Don't know anyone that's currently keeping them. In general, albinos are trickier to keep going in other species, you get a lot of deformities in the likes of gardneri, and they're less prolific. So, treat them with kid gloves and be finicky with the eggs.

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Andy Jameson on Dec 14th, 2022 at 11:52am
Thanks very much for checking.

These are the real deal with pink eyes. They are out of the old "hjerseni" strain which is already golden.

With my first pair, I am finding that they are hardy with pretty good egg production and fertilization. Fry survival in the first days is low, however.

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Tyrone Genade on Dec 15th, 2022 at 10:41am
Hi Andy,

It depends on the the nature of the mutation that causes the lack of pigment. A mutation in the melanin genes themselves can make for weaker fish as these genes are needed in many places other than in melanocytes. Many albinos can make melanin, just not in melanocytes (well, melanophores in the case of fish).

If you are not having much success then I suggest you cross them back into a normal strain and then breed the progeny to recapture the albino strain. In theory 25% will be albino if you breed the siblings to each other.

These outbred fish will also be healthier in general and be better breeders. Odds are the albino fish are highly inbred to start with.

I expect these would be quite handsome fish.

Good luck!

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Medric J. Magann on Dec 16th, 2022 at 1:37pm
AKA member Fred Behrmann raises and sells these. Get ahold of him.

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Andy Jameson on Dec 16th, 2022 at 2:00pm
These originated in Fred's fish room, but it is my understanding that he is no longer keeping them.

Tyrone,

   Is albinism (in fish at least), always a due to a single gene leading to simple dominant recessive, or can it be an interaction between multiple genes?

Andy

Title: Re: Albino australe
Post by Tyrone Genade on Jan 2nd, 2023 at 11:55am
Hi Andy,

About albinism, it typically follows the basic recessive/dominant pattern of genetics where heterozygotes give a 25% albino, 75% normal looking pattern so, typically, I would say its a single gene but we don't know until we do the experiments. If you make the cross and none of the off spring produce albino or a far fewer than 25% then the genetics is more complex. As the eggs themselves show pigmentation you should be able to quickly assess what is going on with the ratios among the fry.

American Killifish Association, Member Forums » Powered by YaBB 2.5.2!
YaBB Forum Software © 2000-2024. All Rights Reserved.