hybred vigor

[phonebush]

Just returned from another short jaunt into the south of the US. Had a conversation that prompts this question. Since introduction of carp is closely guarded in the UK do you keep hybred vigor active to improved your carp? Are you (the UK) trying to protect a particular genetic strain? Has an incident ever occured that can be traced to imported specimen?

Phone

[Adam S]

Hello phonebush

 

im not 100% sure so dont take this as gospel,

but i wasnt aware that hybrid vigour occured in carp in the fashion i think you are asking about.

 

whereas hybrid vigour does occur in cyprinid hybrids such as roach/bream,rudd/bream and rudd/roach ,interbreeding between two genetic strains of carp(cyrinius carpio) might not normally lead to hybrid vigour due to the high level of genetic similarity.

 

in short it should occur in interspecies hybrids but but not in hybridisation between two strains of the same species.

 

hope this helps

adam

[Peter Sharpe]

I agree that hybrid vigour is not the appropriate term in this case, but I think from an angling point of view, and taking strict disease monitoring into account, it is of long term benefit to create a good genetic mix by artificially introducing brood stock from widely separated populations.

You only have to go to some of the remote Fen villages to see the alarming consequences of restricting the gene pool.

[Vagabond]

Peter Sharpe:

 

You only have to go to some of the remote Fen villages to see the alarming consequences of restricting the gene pool.  

Right !

 

Ask any Norfolkman, he'll tell you they are all "light" (ie ninepence in the shilling) in the next village because they all marry their cousins.

[chesters1]

i hear that they all go fishing in the southern states of america with a bow and arrows to fend off banjo twanging inbreds

[phonebush]

Chesters1,

What a hoot!!

But - at least our folks with only one oar in the water are all homo sapiens. Thank goodness we don't have to deal with your throwback English Neanderthals.

 

I thought that was exactly what hybrid vigor was. Do your carp inbreed father to daughter, brother to sister? Is that healthy for your fish?

Phone:D

[Peter Sharpe]

I have a feeling that the expression hybrid vigour only came about as the result of a comparison between artificially created, so-called thoroughbred dogs, with all their inherent ailments, and the far healthier, average mongrel.

 

I think fish are quite able to continue reproducing from the same, small gene pool without any such adverse effects, although continual breeding from the same stock within an enclosed water can easily lead to a population of stunted fish. However, this isn't necessarily a problem from nature's point of view, where the optimum biomass is the prime objective. It's only when anglers decide that they would prefer to adjust the equation in favour of fewer, larger fish that the stock needs to be artificially managed.

I think I'm right in saying though that a fast growing strain which has been allowed to regress, even if no cross-breeding with "inferior" fish has been allowed, then lowering the stock levels will still not allow those fish to attain the maximum weights possible in the originals.

Does anyone know if a fast growing strain such as Dinks, if allowed to breed only with their own strain, will eventually regress within a few generations? Fast growth is a condition that we have imposed, and nature may well have other ideas.

[Newt]

Peter Sharpe:

You only have to go to some of the remote Fen villages to see the alarming consequences of restricting the gene pool.  

Does the phrase "so many people, so few last names" apply here. I know it has been said about the state of Kentucky, USA.