Could this fish be natural?

[fearlessfisch]

I was at a little LFS near me, and they have danios that are bright pink. With the danio stripes, they look like little swimming pieces of peppermint. They are called "glolight danios."

I asked the kid on duty if they are artificially colored in some way, and he said he didn't know. So I came home and googled both "glolight" and "glowlight" danio and found conflicting information. One site said glolight danios are naturally occurring fish, and the other said they are genetically modified to add a glolight gene. None mentioned dyes or paints. However, the pics I saw on a couple of sites did not look like these danios. They show gold danios with a pinkish stripe or a slight pinkish area. The ones at my LFS are solid pink with gold/white stripes....as pink as Christmas peppermint. They are beautiful, but I am very wary.

Has anyone seen these? Is there such thing as a pink danio?

 

[jrp1588]

I heard they had glowlight genes implanted from a jellyfish or something. I don't believe it's natural, but I think they live pretty normally...

 

[Rach101]

I would put my money on the fact that they were painted. :/

 

[mrcrazypants05]

http://www.aquascapeonline.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=37

 

[jrp1588]

hmm...those are quite pretty...

 

[mrcrazypants05]

Yes they are... but I wonder if "their process" is painful/harmful for the danios?

 

[Toirtis]

Yes they are... but I wonder if "their process" is painful/harmful for the danios?

No, it is not...its gene-splicing.

 

[mrcrazypants05]

Wow, these would definetly get attention in the aquarium then. Are they planning to branch this out to other species of fish?

 

[Tiffi]

If they inject the flourescent gene before the fishes hatch (like stated in the link above) it can not hurt them.

 

[Toirtis]

Wow, these would definetly get attention in the aquarium then. Are they planning to branch this out to other species of fish?

No, no reason to...these fish were created as a tool....they fit the bill, so no reason to make others....the aquarium pet side of things was an afterthought as they would never spend millions of dollars to create a fish like this for that use.

 

[jrp1588]

I kinda wish my LFS sold some..I might pick up a few

 

[Rach101]

Eh... Call me old fashioned But I don't think we should mess around with nature like that, I think it almost takes away from natural beauty. :/

 

[PsiPro]

Wow, these would definetly get attention in the aquarium then. Are they planning to branch this out to other species of fish?

No, no reason to...these fish were created as a tool....they fit the bill, so no reason to make others....the aquarium pet side of things was an afterthought as they would never spend millions of dollars to create a fish like this for that use.

I dont know Toirtis... If they can possibly sell them they will try when the process becomes more simplified.

If you read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glofish there is alot of info. In short, Zebra Danios reproduce VERY fast with only 4 days (or less I think) as an egg. This makes them ideal to experiemnt with genetic testing. Hence how we go the GloFish. (BTW Zebra Danios have been in space!)

n 1999, Dr. Zhiyuan Gong and his colleagues at the National University of Singapore took a gene from a jellyfish that naturally produced a green fluorescent protein and inserted it into the zebrafish genome.

Neat huh? A bit of SW for your FW tank.

Their goal was to develop a fish that could detect pollution by selectively fluorescing in the presence of environmental toxins.

It didn't work, they always glow. But very intresting concept.

I wouldn't put them in my community tank becasue I like the o'natural look, but I would make a tank for them alone but i'm sure they will cost quite a bit.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I don't like fish that look unatural. Besides, they cost $4 at my LFS.

 

[fearlessfisch]

Yes, these are the ones! Thank you, Mr. Crazypants and everyone. It is good to know that the color is not paint, and also that there was a good reason for introducing the gene.

They sure would be conversation starters in the aquarium, if not for the color, then for the story behind them. I never knew danios were in space, either. This hobby is a constant learning experience...