What has become evident is that some experts feel that there are many species yet to be discovered, in more than one genus. Some feel that what we call scalare might be in fact a number of different, but similar species. (Dr. Sven O Kullander, Senior Curator, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History). See "Guide To South American Cichlidae" *Note: The Pterophyllum section is no longer available.
I contacted Dr. Wayne Leibel, Dept. of Biology, Lefayette College, Easton, PA. also an ACA Chairman. This is what he had to say in an e-mail he sent me regarding the possibility of hybridization in the wild: "Sorry to say, all I know about wild angelfish was summarized in a multipart for Aquarium Fish Magazine a few years back in my "Goin' South" series. As for hybrids I have read nothing in the scientific/ichthyological literature. There was some recent controversy when the Peruvian scalare made an appearance with its altum like facial profile, but it is not altum. My friend Dave Schleser who has been to the Peruvian Amazon probably 20-30 times just this weekend showed a slide of the fish and said it is a restricted population in the Rio Nanay, I believe. I know that Marc Weiss the discus king has written extensively on the subject of apparent natural hybridization between S. heckel and S. aequifasciata, so it may well happen between angel pops that come into contact, though certainly there is geographic variation in P. scalare that makes them look like distinct species when, really, they are not."
After speaking with Dr. Leibel, I contacted Dr. David Schleser about his peruvian angel. He has lead tropical fish studies and collecting trips to the Amazon region every year for the past 20 years. From speaking with David, I was able to understand the story behind this mysterious Peruvian Angelfish. What he had to say was really quite interesting!
"Peruvian Angelfish"; A scalare with an Altum-like Appearance
"Red Spotted Angelfishes"; Parasitic or not?
August 15, 2000
I was fortunate enough to find all of Dr. Joanne Norton's genetics articles in which the Angelfish Society was given permission to duplicate on their site. I immediately began scanning all the photos (156 I believe) and editing them or web use. Once finished with the photos, I began putting the articles in html format. Tom Krehel then would take each article and reformat it for the TAS's site. There are a total of 18 genetics articles.
Sept. 7, 2000
A member of the Angelfish Society had posted to the forum about his wild dumerilii and wild juvenile leopoldi and stated that they varied in appearance. He mentioned that the two species were synonymized with one another and should be similar in appearance, but they were not. It is true that they were synonymized with one another by Schultz in 1967. However, Dr. Sven O Kullander reviewed the genus in 1986 and synonymized P. Dumerilii with P. Scalare. Then recognized the P. Leopoldi as a distinct specie (see Kullander's "Guide to South American Cichlidae"). Many of today's angelfish hobbyists have been unaware of Kullander's review.
I had discovered Dr. Kullander's site a few months earlier and had learned of this review. At the time, there was not enough evidence to prove the theory about our domestics being hybrids and not 100% scalare. When this subject finally came up in September, I shared this information in a response to the poster. This generated much more discussion of the status of our wild populations. To further inform everyone of the "state of confusion" I explained that four months earlier I had spoke with Dr. Wayne Leibel, whom first described that the pterophyllum vary in appearance depending on location, yet they are considered the same specie. He referred me to his friend David Schlesser, whom I corresponded with about a peruvian angelfish with an altum like appearance and recorded our conversations in my journal. Please read "Peruvian Angelfish; A scalare with an Altum-like Appearance."
"In my attempt to explain "local variants of the Pterophyllum species" (ie...coloration, body shape, freckling, ...some have a spot behind the eyes, some don't, etc.), it became apparent that the best way for people to understand was to show them in a photographic format. I gathered photographs from a few magazines and books that I had lying around. The photographs clearly showed one of two possibilities. Either the fish that were printed in these books were variants or they were miss-identified.
The possibility of them being miss-identified brought on further discussion. It was thought by conservationist and hobbyist alike, that our domestic angelfishes were 100% scalare. Breeders were implementing wild blood into their domestic lines and thought that they were using the P. scalare specie. However, people did not know that the P. scalare specie is defined by having a notched pre-dorsal contour. Most of the wilds that breeders used in their breeding program did not have this characteristic. In fact, when they were compared to other breeders wild stock, they all varied significantly in appearance. Some thought that P. scalare did not have to possess the notched pre-dorsal contour to be a scalare. It was thought that these types of fish were most likely a scalare variant. It is possible that they might be a variant, but there is not any conclusive evidence to say that they are. What they also did not know was that, according to Dr. Sven O Kullander, that there was obviously other species of angelfishes yet to be discovered. In knowing this, we can only conclude that any wild angelfish that 1.) does not poses the "notched pre-dorsal contour", 2.) are obviously "not" an altum, could either be a leopoldi, or an "unknown" specie.
Therefore, it became evident, that many of the wild angelfish that had been imported were miss-identified and that there truly was the possibility of other "unknown" angelfish species." By understanding this, we cannot positively identify our domestics as being of pure scalare bloodlines. The probability of them being hybrids between two or more species is very high. See "Variants of the Wild Pterophyllum Species"
Sept. 7, 2000
The Angelfish Forum
Classification of wilds
Posted By: Steve
Rybicki
Date: Thursday, 7 September 2000, at 10:39 p.m.
I wanted to add my thoughts on this subject.
As to what our domestics are - it is common to see those with notched predorsal contours, those with straight predorsal contours and those somewhere in the middle. Scale counts vary quite a bit, and I don't doubt the fin ray counts are variable. This doesn't even take into consideration that many structural mutations have taken place in our ornamental populations. I think it is almost inconceivable that they are anything other than a mix of many different genes, both wild-type of different species and those mutated and perpetuated in captivity.
As for the fish I'm labeling as P. leopoldi. I really don't know if that is accurate. All I do know for sure is that it is clearly not a scalare or an altum. They do not match the meristic data for those two.
Sept. 24, 2000- Added three articles dedicated to P. Altum
Oct. 6, 2000- Added the Terminology page. There are several different terminology topics to this page. Included in these pages are... Aquatics, Genetics, Anatomy, Nomenclature, and Taxonomy Terminology. These data bases are extensive and I hope you find them useful. Just click on the topic header of your choice to view the terminology.
October 8, 2000
I have been elected to the Angelfish Societies Standards Committee. With genetics being of the utmost priority to the society, Tom Krehel was able to gain special permission from FAMA and Dr. Joanne Norton to publish her genetics articles on TAS. With already having all eighteen articles in my possession, I put them in html, and contributed them to the Society. Later that year... I, along with Steve Rybicki, Stuart Chale, Tony Minnenboo, and Dave Hlasnick developed the genetic notation standards that many breeders and hobbyist will use when naming and breeding their fish. With the services of Michael Weigand, the standards committee created the genetics calculator, a tool that will be used in determining the progeny of a cross. During this time, I also served as the secretary of that committee.
Oct. 19, 2000-The TBA Gallery: TBA has added a section dedicated to it's wonderful friends of the web. Here you will see individual pages with slide shows of the beautiful fish my dear friends keep. Each page will include a link to their personal web site (*if there is one available) for further information regarding the fish keep. I hope you enjoy this new addition and find these people as wonderful as I have! :-)
January 02, 2002- I would like to apologize for not keeping up with this section of TBA. The year 2001 has been a rather rough year. With moving at the first part of the year, home schooling, dealing with intestinal flagellates, water poisoning from the city water, losing all my discus, three of my altums, working with the TAS standards committee, rebuilding TBA, and starting a new business, plus working with my husband on his business...I've had one busy year! I am very happy to see that the year 2001 is over! :-))
I am looking forward to a very good year in 2002, with many plans for TBA. I promise to update soon, so be sure to check back to see the new additions!
|
|
|
