Discus & Angels..common ancestor?

[Mike_T]

Just thought this could an be interesting topic...

Angels & Discus are very similar in their physical appearance, behavior, and reproduction methods. Do you think they were once the same species, and each slowly evolved to fit their niche in the changing environment? Perhaps some sort of chance crossbreeding led to new lines which developed into separate species? Maybe some long-since extinct species of angel(or other new world) evolved over time to become the discus we know today? It is rare in the world of fish to see parenting skills like those of the discus. Just food for the brain...anyone know about their origins?

Mike T 8)

[Ralph]

Your question got me thinking and I couldn't find much info. I did get this page though which touches on the subject:

http://www.holysmoke.org/cretins/cichlids.htm

I thought that the marine fish connection was interesting and I liked the part about the DNA. It did seem to indicate that you are right about the close connection between the two and the different niches that you mention are very much a possibility.

[SnowCichlid]

ok guys now this got me thinking too. Has anyone ever seen or heard of a crossbreed with Discus. Like the severum and the red devil make the blood parrot and we see plenty of these. Was jsut curious if this has been done?

[Paulio]

My memory might be lacking but I think that Angels, Festivum and Sevrum are closely related and Discus are a far distant cousin.

[Jeffery_Doty]

Hello,

Check out this link:

http://www.nrm.se/ve/pisces/acara/cichphyl.shtml

Kullander is one of the experts of our day on South American cichlids. Looks like discus and angels are distantly related.

Jeff
Oregon

[Mike_T]

Good links guys. Jeff, love the classification tree.

-Mike T 8)

http://aca2003.com

[jake]

Interesting post,

some thoughts,

curent thoughts are the amazon was once the worlds largest lake, which ended with the rise of the Andes, and had separated from west africa,

I am fairly sure that many or all of the cichlids did have some common ancestors, but as there are recognizeable fossilized cichlids it would have happened way long ago,

further, cichlids even in a common water tend to specialize apart from even similar or close related subspecies, let alone trans generic crosses, i.e. scalare and altums, heckel and green discus,

so, my point is I suspect any common ancestors are in the order of 15-20 million years ago, even before me.

[jallen500]

True

[Apistomaster]

I agree with Jake and Kullander has shown a very plausible phylogeny.
The probability of successfully crossing Pterophyllum with Symphysodon approaches zero.