Heya
Brett, I think that many of the suggestions in the "stupid question... but" thread are valid.
I would agree that the possibility of hybrid / cross breed is strong, as well as the matter of speciation / "aquarium syndrome" through limited genes. I lean more on the later than the former, though while I have never crossed two different bristlenose's I believe that taxonomically these fish are similar enough to reproduce.
I think too many other questions have to be answered to really understand this question (more of the why, how and what.) However, my bet would lie on temminckii and / or dolichopterus.
I keep temminckii which are very close to the definition of the fish. Too many generations of this fish inter-breeding will give you a similar looking fish to what you know and love as the common BN today. These fish are then long removed from the wild caughts and lose much of their yellow colouration.
From experiences with other fish, this occurs when much interbreeding is allowed...
Points to consider: what description's were originally imported here (or to any location which shows a variation) to begin with? What do other people in other locations call the "common bristlenose" and do they share the same beginnings?.. Only genetic analysis will truly clear this matter up.
Even from the wild, it is questions like these that brought about the creation (and later confusion) of the L and LDA numbers.
ie, Is this catfish really just this one, that has somehow gotten to this river, and then bred with these. Or is it the same species living under different conditions which has meant that these colours allow the fish to adapt and cope better? Is there really enough going on underneath that makes giving the fish a different number, valid? etc.
Your specimen of the common bristlenose is different enough to cause the confusion from the earlier posts in this thread. (Or maybe its just the photo...)
So, I would say that part of the answer is that not all the fish labeled as such are the same "common bristlenose." Which means that it is very unlikely that a scientific definition exists, or at least that will classify the one fish.
You then have to imagine the scenario of my "common" bristlenose from Perth breeding with a "common" bristlenose from somewhere else. These fish may not be imported into Australia very regularly, but how often are (or were?!) they translocated within Australia? From the posts on the forum, I would imagine a lot (if Hoplo's are any indication.)
This is not a strong case if only one or two species were ever imported, but if hybrids slipped in and bred with the fish already here, or a myriad of other possibilities occured, then...
If this is the case, then you would expect from extrapolation that the fish would all be grey - but there you have it...
Its certainly a good (rather than stupid) question, and one that will certainly challenge any who try to clear it up...
Regards
BT
Up to the surface he would go and drag it down to the bottom.
