Post by MADMIKE on Jul 9, 2007 15:34:21 GMT -5
Breeding the Reds and Half-Black Reds
By: Jim Alderson, DVM
President Pan Pacific Guppy Association
Last month we discussed how different lines of guppies can be interbred to complement one another. An excellent example of this is how reds and half-black reds can be used to improve each other. For the past five years I have maintained and improved my reds and half-black reds (HBRs) by making crosses between the two lines every three to four generations.
My HBRs are a line that produces both genetic golds and genetic grey fish. They were originally obtained from Stan Shubel. The golds are robust well colored fish, but they lack the intense black color in the body that the grey fish carry. I usually will only show the genetic grey fish due to the enhanced black body color. I only use genetic grey females for breeding. Out of every two hundred or so males I usually will get one outstanding genetic gold male that has poor body color. I will then breed this male to two virgin females from my red line.
My reds are one hundred percent genetic golds. The offspring from the gold HBR male, red female are one hundred percent genetic golds.
The males from the cross are all gold reds and the females are all gold HBRs. This indicates that in this particular line the half-black body color is on the "X" chromosome.
The male offspring from this cross are very vigorous and fertile. They show enhanced red body color and have dark red in their caudal. They serve as a good source of new genetic material to cross back into the pure gold-bodied red females.
The females from the gold HBR, gold red cross are gold bodied Half-blacks. They can be crossed back to grey bodied HBR males to intensify the Half-black body color again. The resultant offspring show improved intensity of the red color in the caudal and dorsal and a slight decrease in black body color intensity. This can be improved by breeding back to the pure grey bodied HBRs.
Half-black reds are one of the most eye-catching line available today. There are two genetic glitches that make their continued improvement difficult.
1. You must keep the black in the body intense by using the genetic grey bodied fish.
2. As the black body color intensified, the red in the caudal and dorsal tends to darken to mahogany color. This can be solved by using gold bodied reds as an outcross.
The outcross will also improve the gold red line by intensifying the red color which tends to fade if gold reds are not out crossed to a darker line every three-to-four generations.
Many times it is advantageous to' keep two related lines. The Half-blacks stimulate more hybrid vigor than other lines due to the greater mix-up of genetic material.
By: Jim Alderson, DVM
President Pan Pacific Guppy Association
Last month we discussed how different lines of guppies can be interbred to complement one another. An excellent example of this is how reds and half-black reds can be used to improve each other. For the past five years I have maintained and improved my reds and half-black reds (HBRs) by making crosses between the two lines every three to four generations.
My HBRs are a line that produces both genetic golds and genetic grey fish. They were originally obtained from Stan Shubel. The golds are robust well colored fish, but they lack the intense black color in the body that the grey fish carry. I usually will only show the genetic grey fish due to the enhanced black body color. I only use genetic grey females for breeding. Out of every two hundred or so males I usually will get one outstanding genetic gold male that has poor body color. I will then breed this male to two virgin females from my red line.
My reds are one hundred percent genetic golds. The offspring from the gold HBR male, red female are one hundred percent genetic golds.
The males from the cross are all gold reds and the females are all gold HBRs. This indicates that in this particular line the half-black body color is on the "X" chromosome.
The male offspring from this cross are very vigorous and fertile. They show enhanced red body color and have dark red in their caudal. They serve as a good source of new genetic material to cross back into the pure gold-bodied red females.
The females from the gold HBR, gold red cross are gold bodied Half-blacks. They can be crossed back to grey bodied HBR males to intensify the Half-black body color again. The resultant offspring show improved intensity of the red color in the caudal and dorsal and a slight decrease in black body color intensity. This can be improved by breeding back to the pure grey bodied HBRs.
Half-black reds are one of the most eye-catching line available today. There are two genetic glitches that make their continued improvement difficult.
1. You must keep the black in the body intense by using the genetic grey bodied fish.
2. As the black body color intensified, the red in the caudal and dorsal tends to darken to mahogany color. This can be solved by using gold bodied reds as an outcross.
The outcross will also improve the gold red line by intensifying the red color which tends to fade if gold reds are not out crossed to a darker line every three-to-four generations.
Many times it is advantageous to' keep two related lines. The Half-blacks stimulate more hybrid vigor than other lines due to the greater mix-up of genetic material.