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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hybrid Sunfish

I did a post to my blog (here) about hybrid sunfish and wanted to ask the genetic experts for some clarification. As I understand it most sunfish can hybridize. The offspring are fertile but mostly male. What I don’t understand it why I seldom see hybrid sunfish in the wild. Is the success rate lower in producing hybrid offspring? Do fish tend to avoid mating with hybrids? Maybe this isn’t a question dealing with genetics as much as fish behavior. Perhaps you have some insights or could point me in the right direction.

I’m also curious what happens when hybrids do mate. Will some of the offspring revert back to “purer” sunfish? If two Bluegill/Sunfish hybrids mate what would the expected offspring be?

There is a lot known about hybrids in general, but I don't know anything about sunfish in particular. Comments from anyone who does are welcome (but you can't be anonymous).

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