Hi Lee,
I don't know when or how long ago you dropped away from tropical fish but,
yes, more recently there have been a number of new Angelfish color
morphs/varieties. How they appear to the hobby all depends on the viewer, as this is
a very subjective matter. I'll agree that not all of these newer varieties
are to my liking, but there are some which I see as quite pleasing. As for
your preferring the natural beauty of Angelfish and attempts to replicate
what's found in nature, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Fortunately, the "wild type" (silver, with black bars) Angelfish are still
with us, and I'm sure with us to stay. Many hobbyists still prefer these
Silver Angels, even over the Silver morph, Veiltail developed in 1958.
Similar to the natura' wild-type Angels, is the Black Lace Angelfish which is very
similar (having black bars on a lighter background), but there is more
black in them showing up as "lace" in the fins. I don't know if you object to
that, but they were developed even earlier than the Silver Veiltails, in the
early 1950's. So, there are still Angel's around that would have to be to
your liking, and you really don't need to concern yourself with any of the
newer ones if you don't want to.
These newer Angelfish morphs will be with us until such time as they fall
out of favor -- and some have already fallen out of favor, not to be found
anywhere in the hobby any longer. As for other species of tropical fish being
bred as other-than-wild-type morphs, yes -- quite a number of them have
been developed into long-fin varieties. Others, such as Discus, have been
similarly selectively bred as various color morphs far from what are found in
nature. Some of these are very nice looking, albeit, quite different than any
of the wild types, yet still nice in their own right. Others are not as
attractive, but again, this all depends on one's personal preferences.
Similarly to the AKC you mention, there is a world-recognized group in this
country (U.S.A.) called "The Angelish Society" which establishes and
monitors developed strains of Angelfish in accordance with what the genetics of
these varieties will allow as breeding true. This group had more recently
been accepted by the ACA (American Cichlid Assoctiation) for their work, and
have been established as their own show class by the ACA in this association's
annual convention. Many genetic crossings of these newer varieties will
not yield a true strain resulting in all of the progeny appearing as the
parents -- and so, are disallowed, discouraged by the TAS from being bred and not
recognized as being a true strain. Those genetic crosses that do result in
following through to being a true strain, having all of the following
generations appearing the same, are considered as another strain. Of them, there
may be some "true strains" which for one reason or another, are just not
attractive enough to be seen as a beneficial variety and which will never sell
very well. While those breeders rearing such poor looking fish are
discouraged from continuing them, some may continue raising them just because
they're different and because, as them being "different," they may feel that they
can make another dollar on them -- especially as very few others will be
raising the same variety.
Ray</HTML>
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