# Different color fry???



## LAcichlidgirl (Apr 18, 2011)

My husband just stripped our yellow lab because she had been holding more than 3 weeks. There are about 20 babies but they are different colors! Some are light yellow, and some are a much darker brown. How is this possible? Does this mean there were two different fathers? I had other varieties of African cichlids with her so she could have crossbred with something other than a yellow lab. But is it possible for her to have bred with more than one male?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

If she hybridized, the fry could come out looking like the father, the mother, or a mix... so different coloured fry are possible from one male. In this situation, you have to assume all of the fry are hybrids.


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## LAcichlidgirl (Apr 18, 2011)

Interesting. I also noticed the light colored fry have red eyes. I wonder if she could have crossbred with one of my albino socolofi (is that possible?) or the father could have been a yellow lab with an albino gene...?


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

More likely she breed with the albino socolofi then your lab having an albino gene.

Also yes two different males can fertilize eggs from one female.


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## pack-rat (Aug 2, 2010)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> More likely she breed with the albino socolofi then your lab having an albino gene.
> 
> Also yes two different males can fertilize eggs from one female.


Isn't albinism almost always a recessive trait? Wouldn't both parents have to carry at least one gene for albinism for any of the offspring to express the trait?

At least, that's what I remember from high school Biology class. :wink:


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Hmm...I'm not really sure on that.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

pack-rat said:


> Isn't albinism almost always a recessive trait? Wouldn't both parents have to carry at least one gene for albinism for any of the offspring to express the trait?
> 
> At least, that's what I remember from high school Biology class. :wink:


Albinism is usually recessive. The YL mom may very well be carrying one copy of the albino gene (or more accurately, one of her pigment genes is non-functional).

There are quite a few possible scenarios here:
1) She mated with the albino socolofi
2) She mated with a YL male which is also an albino carrier
3) Some of #1 and some of #2
4) She mated with one of the other males (non-socolofi, non-YL)

In conclusion, it will be very hard to figure out who the dad(s) is(are). Do not distribute these fry.

How many different species are in this tank? Do you know the gender ratios of all species in your tank? Increasing females or decreasing total species number may help avoid crossbreeding in the future.


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## jprime84 (Apr 14, 2010)

You can always grow them out a bit and see what they look like. Who knows, mabe you will like the look.

You certainly cant pass them off as Yellow labs though.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you grow them out you would want to keep them in your home for their lifetimes. This is why some of us try to stock to avoid hybrids...no tank space and unhappy about euthanizing healthy fish.


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## LAcichlidgirl (Apr 18, 2011)

Kanorin said:


> How many different species are in this tank? Do you know the gender ratios of all species in your tank? Increasing females or decreasing total species number may help avoid crossbreeding in the future.


I have 4 yellow labs (at least 2 females, at least one male, other unknown), a female OB zebra, 2 albino socolofi (unknown sex), 3 peacocks (unknown sex), 2 acei (unknown sex) and 2 kenyi (unknown sex). It's hard to sex them. I suppose I could let nature take its course next time and not remove the fry, but that seems cruel.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

LAcichlidgirl said:


> I suppose I could let nature take its course next time and not remove the fry, but that seems cruel.


Not cruel at all. I couldnt even begin to count the number of times this has happened in my tanks.


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## tirzo13 (May 26, 2004)

Did you get them from a breeder or a pet store?

If pet store the mother could have had recessive trait for albinism, in addition to who ever the father of your spawn was.

Multiple males can fertilize a spawn, usually the spawning male will chase out any intruders, but if you watch your tank all the fish are excited, and I have seen other species try to rush in to the spawns.

So she could have spawned with multiple males, of which one was either an albino or carried the albino gene, and she has to have an albino gene also.
There are albino EY's, though doubtful of the purity, and there are also pet stores that sell EY's that look like EY's but are of mixed parents.
Nevertheless, in order for her to have albino's, she also must carry the trait.

This is not an absolute rule however.
Anybody who raises albino bristlenose plecos knows they don't follow the rules.
Albino bristlnose pairs can have normal colored fry, and that should not happen according to the rules.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

It is theoretically possible that the yellow lab is not a carrier. Forget simple Mendelian genetics... they don't really apply in the event of radical crossings.

If the socolofi genes are dominant to mom's, then his offspring would be albino.

We really don't know unless we start to grow these out and then perform a number of breeding experiments...


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## LAcichlidgirl (Apr 18, 2011)

I got them at a fish store. This is all interesting info. I'll look forward to seeing what the fry look like when they get bigger!


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## Nina_b (Jan 3, 2011)

so do we, post pics when they do


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

*LAcichlidgirl*
How are these fry coming along? Got any pictures?


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## LAcichlidgirl (Apr 18, 2011)

Here are some pictures (not great quality) of them in their fry tank. Some fish are noticeably darker, and there are about 5 albinos out of the 21 fry. The mother is actually holding again right now!


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

They are good looking fish. I can see the different shades of color. Hopefully the holding fry will be full Lab this time. Thank you for sharing.


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