| A very interesting question.
Often I see reference to using a koi with terrible pattern and excellent conformation and size as parent stock. This makes sense, because pattern is so variable. The chances are tht if the genes for shape and size are passed on, there will be good patterns coinciding.
Some of the other combinations I occasionally read about make less sense. Crossing different lines, of course, reduces the defects from in-breeding, but I've never understood using an inferior Beni, since that is such an important factor in ultimate selection.
In the end, the breeder is seeking to produce fry that rise to a new, higher level than what has come before. To get to that higher level, he has to use as parents fish that have a superior characteristic in some respect, although inferior in others. The genetic lottery of a hundred thousand fry gives hope that somewhere in those darting little bodies are a few, or even one, that got only the best each parent had to offer. ... So long as the dragonfly larvae did not get it. |