Black Angelfish A Versatile Addition to a Breeding

Black Angelfish – A Versatile Addition to a Breeding Program A presentation for The Angelfish Society February 17, 2008. By Tamar Stephens 1

Black Angelfish can be used to make several popular phenotypes. Ø In this presentation we will look at some attractive and popular varieties that can be made using black angelfish. Ø If you don’t already have black angelfish in your breeding program, this presentation may give you some ideas to expand the number of varieties you raise through simply adding black angelfish to your home hatchery. 2

Simple Crosses Ø The first crosses we will look at involve simply crossing a double dark black (D/D) with another variety. 3

Black x Silver Black Lace Many people consider black lace to be one of the more striking varieties of angelfish. Double dark black (D/D) crossed with silver (+/+) results in a black lace (D/+). We show this cross as: D/D x +/+ D/+ 4

Black x Zebra (Z/Z) Zebra Lace Many people consider zebra lace to be even more attractive than black lace. They are similar in appearance. Zebra lace has one more stripe, and has more ornate patterning in the tail and fins. Double dark black (D/D) crossed with zebra (Z/Z) zebra lace (D/+ - Z/+). 5

Zebra can be double or single dose Zebra is a dominant trait, so a zebra might be either Z/Z or Z/+. Homozygous (double dose) zebras (Z/Z) are often slower to grow than single dose (Z/+). Chances are that if you have zebra angels, they might be single dose (Z/+). What happens if you cross a single dose zebra to a double dark black? (next slide) 6

Black x Zebra (Z/+) If you cross double dark black with a single dose zebra, you will get 50% zebra lace and 50% black lace, both of which are beautiful and striking angelfish varieties. D/D x Z/+ 50% D/+ - Z/+ (zebra lace) 50% D/+ (black lace) 7

Black x Smokey Lace Here is another beautiful variety you can create by crossing black with smokey. D/D x Sm/+ 50% D/+ - Sm/+ (smokey lace) 50% D/+ (black lace) 8

Black x Blushing Black Ghost A black ghost will is a pretty variation of black. The color is lighter and stripes are absent or incomplete. The cross is: D/D x S/S 100% D/+ - S/+ (black ghost) 9

More complicated phenotypes We just looking at some phenotype that can be created by simply crossing a double dark black with another phenotype. Now let’s look at some phenotypes that might require 2 steps to create. 10

Turquoise Blushing (D/+ - S/S) 11

Turquoise Blushing (D/+ - S/S) (continued) Turquoise Blushing can be made with more than one possible cross. Here is one way. We saw how to create black ghost on a previous slide. We can cross black ghost (D/+ - S/+) with blushing (S/S). D/+ - S/+ x S/S +/+ - S/+ : 25% : Silver Ghost +/+ - S/S : 25% : Blushing D/+ - S/+ : 25% : Black Ghost D/+ - S/S : 25% : Turquoise Blushing 12

Black Velvet (Black Blushing) Black Velvet is a black blushing angelfish. It has a smooth velvety appearance, with no stripes and no lace patterning in the tail or fins. 13

Black Velvet (continued) If you cross two black ghosts, you will get 6. 25% black blushing. D/+ - S/+ x D/+ S/+ +/+ - +/+ : 6. 25% : Silver (wild) +/+ - S/+ : 12. 50% : Silver Ghost +/+ - S/S : 6. 25% : Blushing D/+ - +/+ : 12. 50% : Black Lace D/+ - S/+ : 25. 00% : Black Ghost D/+ - S/S : 12. 50% : Turquoise Blushing D/D - +/+ : 6. 25% : Black(dd) D/D - S/+ : 12. 50% : Black(dd) Ghost D/D - S/S : 6. 25% : Black(dd) Blushing (velvet) Now you can cross two of the black velvet offspring to 100% black velvet in the next generation. (Did you notice that you can create black lace, turquoise blushing, glack ghost, and black velvet all in the same spawn with this cross? ) 14

These are a few attractive varieties that are possible with the black allele. If you are a novice at breeding angelfish, you might want to consider trying your hand at raising some of these varieties. You can explore the phenotype library and play with the genetics calculator for more possible varieties. What black varieties have you raised? 15

Thank You! All of the photos used in this presentation came from the TAS phenotype library. Thank you to all of you who have contributed to the phenotype library either through participating in photo contests or by directly donating photos!!! 16

The End Now back to the chat room for discussion! 17