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Reprinted with
permission from:
Dr. Joanne Norton
Freshwater And Marine Aquarium magazine
Angelfish Genetics
Photos and Text by Dr. Joanne Norton
FAMA: Sept 1982, Vol. 5, #9
Part Five
The purpose of this article is to describe and
illlustrate angelfish having various mutant genes in addition to the
gene for marble or the gene for stripeless. Also, inheritance of
veiltail will be discussed.
These combinations of stripeless have been covered
in previous articles of this series:
- 1 dose of stripeless + 1 dose of zebra (Part
3).
- 1 dose of stripeless + 1 dose of dark (Part
4).
- 2 doses of stripeless + 1 dose of dark (Part
4).
- 2 doses of stripeless + 2 doses of dark (Part
4).
An angelfish with one dose of stripeless and one
dose of marble has the marble pattern (Figure 1). A blushing
marble (two doses of stripeless and one dose of marble) has the
marble pattern and the red gills show in the juvenile (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Adult: One dose of marble and one
dose of stripeless.
Figure 2: Juvenile blushing marble: One dose
of marble and two doses of stripeless.
The adult blushing marble (Figure 3) has a
dull (not shiny) body with iridescent areas, including over the
gills, which masks the red color of the gills. A blushing marble
having two doses of marble (Figure 4) has more extensive
black areas than in a blushing marble with only one dose of marble,
just as a double-dose marble (front cover) has more black than in a
single-dose marble. The double-dose marble blushing grows slowly and
is frail.
Figure 3: Mature blushing marble: One dose
of marble and two doses of stripeless.
Figure 4: Juvenile blushing marble: Two doses
of marble and two doses of stripeless.
Adding one dose of stripeless to smokey decreases
somewhat the extent of the smokey pattern (Figure 5). The
smokey pattern also is diminished in a blushing smokey (Figure 6),
which has two doses of stripeless and one dose of smokey.
Figure 5: Adult: One dose of smokey and one
dose of stripeless.
Figure 6: Juvenile blushing smokey: One dose
of smokey and two doses of stripeless.
The juvenile blushing smokey has red gills
showing, but the adult (Figure 7) does not show red gills
because iridescent tissue has developed in the gill plates as well
as in patches on the body and fins.
Figure 7: Adult blushing smokey: One dose of
smokey and two doses of stripeless.
In 1977 I obtained new gold blushing angelfish by
first crossing new gold angelfish with a blushing and then by
crossing the offspring brother to sister. New gold blushing, having
two doses of new gold and two doses of stripeless, breeds true. The
new gold blushing angelfish has red gill areas in the juvenile
(Figure 8) but not in the adult.
Figure 8: Juvenile new gold blushing: Two doses
of new gold and two doses of stripeless.
It differs from the blushing angelfish by lacking
black dorsal and anal fins and a black vertical stripe below the
eye. While the new gold blushing has no black fins or markings, it
does have black pigment in the eye; it also has gold color,
especially on the upper part of the body, in the juvenile. The adult
new gold blushing angelfish is white with pink tinges, especially
along the edge of the body at the base of the dorsal fin (Figure
9).
Figure 9: Adult white (new gold blushing) Male: Two
doses of new gold and two doses of stripeless.
Imported new gold blushing (white) angelfish, some
with and some without an orange area on top of the head, were
available in some aquarium shops and by mail order from Golden State
Aquatics about five years ago, but I have not seen them for sale
during the past few years. This year white angelfish were described
and illustrated (Fishman), and were offered for sale by mail order.
In 1974 I obtained Hong Kong gold blushing
angelfish by crossing a Hong Kong gold with a blushing and then by
crossing their offspring brother to sister. The Hong Kong gold
blushing (Figure 10) also is white but its iridescent areas
are metallic gold colored. The iridescent patches on a new gold
blushing are shiny, silvery white.
Figure 10: Hong Kong gold blushing: Two doses of
Hong Kong gold and two doses of stripeless.
The previously covered marble combinations are:
- 1 dose of marble + 1 dose of zebra (Part
4).
- 1 dose of marble + 1 dose of dark (Part
3).
- 1 dose of marble + 1 dose of stripeless
(above).
- 1 dose of marble + 2 doses of stripeless
(above).
- 2 doses of marble + 2 doses of stripeless
(above).
- 1 dose of marble + 1 dose of new gold (Part
3).
Adding smokey to marble produces only subtle
differences in the marble pattern (Figure 11). Therefore, a
marble angelfish could also have smokey without your noticing it
unless you are looking for one or more of these smokey
characteristics: black-tipped dorsal fin, black mouth, black in most
of the outer part of the tail. In a marble angelfish without smokey,
there are white streaks extending to the ends of the dorsal and
caudal fins.
Figure 11: Female with one dose of Marble, one dose
of smokey, and one dose of veiltail.
Veiltail in angelfish is due to an autosomal (not
on a sex chromosome) dominant gene (Sterba). A double dose of the
gene for veiltail results in a very long, droopy tail (Figure 12).
The double-dose veiltail is smaller and less vigorous than the
single-dose veiltail (Figure 11) and is not a prolific
breeder. A mating in which both parents are single-dose veiltail is
unsatisfactory because this produces 25% normal, 50% single-dose
veiltail, and 25% double-dose veiltail. You need to sort three kinds
of fish and also the double-dose veiltails are slow-growing and not
as attractive as the single-dose veiltails. It is better to obtain
veiltails from a cross of a single-dose veiltail x normal, which
will produce 50% single-dose veiltail and 50% normal offspring.
Figure 12: Hong Kong gold with two doses of veiltail.
Literature Cited
Fishman, Michael C. The gold crown white angelfish. Trop. Fish
Hobbyist 30 (No. 10): 33-36. 1982
Sterba, G. Uber eine Mutation bei Pterophyllum eimekei. I.
Anamnese und Beschreibung. Biol. Zentralbl. 78(2):323-333. 1959.
Angelfish Genetics: Part Six
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