Actually, when African cichlids hybridize in an aquarium they also produce
muddy, poorly colored offspring.  It is more a result of gene mixing than a
response of any environmental condition.  Ten different but closely related
species pairs will breed true, even if all are kept in the same tank.  But
if a male dies, leaving a female without a mate, she will probably breed
with another species and the young will be "grey" rather than the brilliant
blue of the female or gold of the male (or whatever colors).  This does not
happen when a female dies as the lonely male can seldom outcompete the
"proper" species male.  His signals are not as attractive and are only
accepted when there is no male present offering the proper signals.  I have
kept African cichlids since they first hit the aquarium trade in the late
1960s and I have seen this occur many times.

These fish have separated into different species much more recently than the
Lambis we have been talking about.  But the same processes may be at work as
the limited range of a Lambis female may end up in her acceptance of
another, closely related, species as a mate if she is unable to find a
"proper" mate.

Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Andrew Grebneff
> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 3:42 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Lambis millepeda x Lambis lambis hybrids
>
>
> >Look at the cichlids (fish)of Lake Victoria(?) in Africa.
> Introduction of new
> >species by people made the water cloudy and prevented closely
> related species
> >from distinguishing each other (they were dependant on color
> patterns).  Now
> >there are fewer, blander species.  Not sure if this is at all
> applicable to
> >marine mollusks which probably use chemical cues to distinguish
> >species, but at
> >the rate we are spreading pollutants into the environment, we
> may eventually
> >screw them up too.
>
> It is possible that the cichlids' (Cichlididae) apparent loss of
> diversity is in part due to adaptation to murky waters (analogous to
> pale English moths developing a dark form during the Industrial
> Revolution). Many of these cichlids differ mainly in color, and quite
> a few may not be good species. Dull-colored fish might be more likely
> to hybridize, too, especially those which have color-coded (visual)
> recognition.
>

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