Guest shirleycat Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Brief background: minnow spent several months alone with the goldie; immediately after adding two fantails, the minnow nosed and pushed goldie away from the fantails in a protective, possessive manner; ergo, we figured minnow is male and goldie female. The minnow has calmed down somewhat, but at feeding time, he is hyper, swimming erratically (excitedly?) as the three goldies feed. Minnow quickly snags some food from the surface, but continues the erratic behavior so long as the goldies are feeding. Two questions really: What do you make of this behavior, and can a minnow fertilize goldfish eggs. Shirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member abeadle Posted February 23, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 Nope. they are completely different species. It may be a territorial minnow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sandy Posted February 24, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2007 if theres just the one minnow then buy some more, they are schooling fish and do better in groups of at least 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Man Yu Posted February 24, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2007 actually, since the minnow is a cyprinid, the answer is surprisingly yes: it can fertilize goldfish eggs. The offspring will likely be sterile hybrids if they survive, however. Wild goldfish colonies in the remote parts of Eurasia have been observed to be composed entirely of female fish. They reproduce themselves by joining in the group-spawning activities of other cyprinids in the area. Apparently their eggs contain the necessary genetic material to clone themselves over and over for generations, needing only the sperm of other fish to trigger the zygote to start cellular division. The Amazonian Livebearer also uses the same reproductive strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member merlinsmom Posted February 24, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2007 Wow,that is so interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member yazooo Posted February 24, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2007 actually, since the minnow is a cyprinid, the answer is surprisingly yes: it can fertilize goldfish eggs. The offspring will likely be sterile hybrids if they survive, however. Wild goldfish colonies in the remote parts of Eurasia have been observed to be composed entirely of female fish. They reproduce themselves by joining in the group-spawning activities of other cyprinids in the area. Apparently their eggs contain the necessary genetic material to clone themselves over and over for generations, needing only the sperm of other fish to trigger the zygote to start cellular division. The Amazonian Livebearer also uses the same reproductive strategy. Thats pretty fascinating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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