[Flapjack]

Tonight there will be a rift lake special on the Science Channel.
here is all the details

It will show many times, so you can fit it into your schedule

http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedul ... 9743.39525 .4

 

[bmweiler09]

Timer is set on the tv. Thanks for the heads up! :thumb:

 

[smithc1986]

I saw it earlier and set the dvr. The previews looked good.

 

[newforestrob]

I dont think I get it up here inT.O., cant seem to find it

 

[iplaywithemotions]

Thanks for the heads up! I will be watching!!

 

[Cromak]

Watched this last night very good.. couldn't believe the catfish

 

[cantrell00]

Me too... I will be burning a copy of that in AVCHD..

Very interesting & informative.

I didn't realize that the Malawins were considered more evolved than the Tangayikan species..

 

[RRasco]

I posted in the other thread in the general cichlid discussion, but wanted to inform people I am going to try and rip this to PC so people could see it that may miss it. It is re-airing a few times this month, starting tomorrow I believe.

 

[iplaywithemotions]

It was great! Very informative and some good footage of our beloved cichlids in their natural habitat!

 

[Rhinox]

Watched it. Will probably watch it again.

A couple nit-picky things:

1) when talking about mbuna, when the narrator mentioned something about different species being able to share the same algae patch due to the way they eat, he mentioned something about the different species only being able to reproduce with their own species :? I think the exact line was, "different species sharing the same territory, that can only reproduce with their own species".

Maybe in the lake, there are enough choices where they choose to only mate with their own species, but that doesn't mean they CAN'T hybridize, as proven by many aquarists.

2) The cukoo catfish spawning bit was right in the middle of the malawi section of the show. I couldn't tell what species of catfish the cichlid spit out (for that matter, I couldn't identify the cichild off the top of my head, either). At first I was wondering if there were cukoo spawning catfish in malawi, or if they jumped over to tanganyka without clarifying, or if they just made a mistake. Anyone remember the part I'm talking about and can let me know what they did there?

 

[Outcastgsx]

It was a good show, learned some new things about my crazy mbuna..

 

[cantrell00]

All Mbuna are hybrids... I think they said that they have linked all of them to one specific fish that came over when tangayika spilled over...

That amazed me more than anything else... Such a large, diverse poulation of (now) different species that evolved from a single source of Tangayika DNA.

 

[Rhinox]

All Mbuna are hybrids... I think they said that they have linked all of them to one specific fish that came over when tangayika spilled over...

That amazed me more than anything else... Such a large, diverse poulation of (now) different species that evolved from a single source of Tangayika DNA.

No, not hybrids. evolution. a single species of fish that keeps spawning with the same species is not hybridizing. It'd be more accurate if you said, all mbuna are different linebred strains from an initial single species, over millions of years.

 

[cantrell00]

I think as to your original point, we are in agreememnt.

They absolutely will hybridize given the right circumstances. And not necessarily only in a controlled enviroment. Odds are, there are more than likely recent hybridized strains in malawi, right now.

I mean, how could you "know", given the chaotic state & the sheer number of fish? The odds certainly lean more to hybrid than not...

 

[mazziod]

I don't get the science channel

Maybe it will be sent to netflix

 

[Rhinox]

I think as to your original point, we are in agreememnt.

They absolutely will hybridize given the right circumstances. And not necessarily only in a controlled enviroment. Odds are, there are more than likely recent hybridized strains in malawi, right now.

I mean, how could you "know", given the chaotic state & the sheer number of fish? The odds certainly lean more to hybrid than not...

Well, yes and no.

Species that are found at one reef are never going to ever come into contact with species at another reef, in the lake, because there is no reason for the fish to traverse the empty lakebed in between reefs.

And since there are individual variants of different cichlids at any particular collection point, and not just a mish mash of different looking cichlids, its safe to say that there aren't a lot of hybrids in the lake - if 2 different species spawn together, either the offspring are "disadvantaged" and the new line dies out, or they have an advantage and become a new species. I think dispite the perceived chaos, it would take something major to upset the balance and actually create new species in this way. most of the species evolved how they did not by crossing with other species, but by being segregated as part of a population and evolved traits that gave them an advantage at their location.

Mainly, my nitpicking argument was that the narrator said the different species at one collection point "can not" reproduce with the other species. While they "may not and probably don't", that doesn't mean they "can't."

 

[fish_addiction]

I just noticed it's re-playing at like 1:00 A.M. tommorrow if anyone missed it (ME)

 

[Micky128398]

Sounds like a great show to watch, not available here in Oz, anybody know where I can download it or watch on line? Thanks :thumb:

 

[situation]

Im from oz just wondering what the doco was named so see if I can find it

 

[RRasco]

Mutant Planet: Africa's Rift Valley Lakes

http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedul ... 43.39525.1