"There won't be any bows hybridizing
here" stuff is BS. They can do this is the wild, given proper conditions
(and this is NOT an unlikely thing, folks)
what evidence are you referring to here Julie?
and they will if given the
"opportunity." Please don't forget that geographic isolation is one of
the things that keeps species separate in the wild. Remove those
boundaries and you can get croos-breeding (or competition, which may well be the biggest threat, as this is what wipes out a spp from it's native
environs).
Julie, I beleive the risk would be very small. The point has been raised that in Australia we can have 3 or 4 species inhabiting the same stream/waterhole and intermingling, competing for food and yet they still retain preference for their own type. Sur
e the possibility is there, however in the wild they co-exist (we have discussed this before).
The other fact is that PNG fish have been in Australia for a long time and we have no evidence of cross breeding or out competing in the wild. We all know it can happen in tanks, damns, and ponds. Perhaps Peter U's argument against aquaculture in the tr
opics may be applied here in reverse, ie, what is better large scale aquaculture of PNG species (the ones that are here) in cyclone areas, or the importation of these fishes via approved inspection facilities and release to the wholesalers?
Regards,
Barry.