DISCUS PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS By Andrew Soh

Problems and Solutions Andrew Soh Publisher·s Note: This book is sold with the understnnding that the author 1s relati

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Problems and Solutions Andrew Soh

Publisher·s Note: This book is sold with the understnnding that the author 1s relating his practical experience, know-how and researches in thts discus reference book. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any linbility, loss or risk whether personal or otherwise, which 1s mcurrcd as a consequence, directly or indirectly from the use and appl ication of any sugge-

Ensuring maximum size potential Ensuring the total well-being of your culture An immune booster An antioxidant A l iver detoxifier

It is not a growth hormone . The ingredients in this _product are produced synthetically and do not contain hom1one, drug, steroid nor animal derivatives. This product can either be incorporated into feed preparation orto soak feed into a pro-growth solution for 15 to 30 minutes befare feeding . Pro growth is not to be introduced directly into culture water.

The main ingredients are listed below and are similar to those in Pro-more . The difference between both the pro-more and pro-growth is the differences in proportion (concoction) of each ingredient.

Main ingredients: VitaminA Vitamin D3 Vitamin E Vitamin K Vitamin Bl Vitamin B2 Vitamin B3 Vitamin 85 Vitamin B6 Vitamin B7 Vitamin B9 Vitamin Bl2 Amino acids Minerals

*Both Pro-more and Pro-growth are safe to use . Even five times the recommended dose given long term will not harm your fish. 11 Page 80

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Fucin There are all together 6 groups of parasites that could infest and/or infect fishes. The six groups are

Copepods, Worms,Protozoa, Fungi, Bacteria and Viruses. In most of the discus hatcheries, copepod is of the least concern because rnost are indoor hatcheries and municipal water is the main water source. Besides cleaner water, breeders have learned to administer prophylactic treatment to wild imports and use clean, hygienic food. Therefore, copepods were gradually eliminated from the aquarium setting during quarantine period at the collectors'. That was why in my first book, discus pathogens were grouped under five families. Anyway, among ali the six groups of pathogens, sorne groups can be suppressed or eliminated with the use of similar drugs or chemicals. Therefore, for treatment purposes, they can be further regrouped into collective groups according to their sensitivity to treatment, thus streamlining and refining treatrnent approaches.

In treatment terms, aquatic-pests can be segregated into three major groups: 1) Ecto-parasites - micro-organisms such as protozoa, worms, fungi or bacteria that thrive in the water-body and on the surface affish ar aquatic animals. 2) Endo-parasites - micro-organisms living inside the gut, cavity, blood, organs, tissue and any part inside thefish ar aquatic animal. 3) Viruses -particles that are capable o.f replication but survive only within living cells. They are the smallest organism aniong the three groups and are unable to survive long outside the cell .

For ecto-parasites, there are a lot of chemicals in the market that are effective agaínst not only one but number ofthe parasites listed in (1). Those common chemicals are: a) Potassium permanganate - oxidising agent - oxidises possihly every material in the water and ali freeswimming organisms of size smaller than 50 micron in the water and on the fish . Ne ver use together with formalin and is less toxic ata pH 7.0 and below. Treatment: 2mgs o.f KMn04 to one Litre of H20 .for 24 hours. In certain ínfectíons, the dose may need to be increased to 2 .2mgs per litre . b) Hydrogen peroxide - oxidising agent - oxidises all free-swimming organisms of size smaller than 50 niicron in the water and on thefish. Treatment: 0.25ml of 3% H202 to one litre ofwater long bath. e) Formalin - jormaldehyde 37% - at long bath therapeutic leve!, effective against ciliates, monogenean worms and jree-swinuning flagellates but effectiveness oj treatment against jree swimming bacteria, fungi and other organism.s is clase to lethal level which may be extremely toxic to .fish especial/y discus. Treatment: 36ml of H2CO per 100 litres aj H20 far 30 minutes and 100% water-change ajter that. d) Ma!achite green - a dye which is sensitive to light, not heat and is ejfective as short bath ar extended bath oj a few hours but notfor long bath dueto its rate oj decomposition. It is efjective against monogenean wonns, ciliates and free-swimming flagellates. There.fore, {f you wish to maintain therapeutically ejfective concentrationfor 24 hours, initial dose may need to be higher than therapeutic leve/ and that stresses the fish. This is not advised. Another method is to start

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with normal therapeutic leve! and add to strength every four hours. Anyway, l recommend short bath given on alternate daysfor aperiod oftwelve days. Treatment: JOOmg ofC23H25CJN2 per litre of H20 (stock solution). 1.3ml of stock solution to 100 litres of H20 for 3 times with three days interval. e) Organoplwsphate - ejfective against most of the free swimming organisms and even free swimming nematodes and tape worms. Therapeutic leve! removes mucous coating and burns the epidermis and the iris, temporarily diluting the colour. Treatment: 150 to 160mgs C4H7Cl204P per 100 litres of H20 for 3 times with three days interval. There is a purer form manufactured by Bayer ( Dipterex, 95% active ingredient Trichl01fon). Far this 120 to 130mgs per 100 litres. j) Methylene blue - Effective against water-mold infections and white-spot (lchthyophthirius multifiliis). Well tolerated by mostfishes even at high dose. lt is not e.ffective against ftmgus like aphanomyces. Treatment: Prolong immersion with CJ6Hl8CIN3S at 150mm visibility. g) Copper sulphate -E.ffective against most free-swimming micro-organisms in water andas in ali other chemicals, long-term bath of two weeks or twentyjour hours treatment repeated three to four times over a two weeks periad is necessary to break the production cycle aj most cyst laying pathogens. Treatment: CuS045H20 from LFS is chelated and thus safer than se(f chelatian. h) Acriflavine - A dye that is effective against costia and bacterium jlexibacter calumnaris. It is used in many quarantine practices as bacteria! suppressor or preventive treatment and to control fin-rot but it has now been less effective due to it being used widely and inaccurately resulting in resistant strains of bacteria. Treatment: Stock solution: 3gms C/4H14N3Cl to one litre ofH20. Use about l.5mJ (orl.7ml) to] litre ofH20 or !50ml (arl70mf) to 100 litres of water. i) Sodium Chloride - A common salt ejfective against Ichthyophthir ius multifiliis ata dose of 200 gms per 100 litres of water (two parts per thousand, 2ppt). Most infectians are accompanied by open wounds whether they are inflicted directly or indirectly by the organisms. This results in dehydration and hence there is a need to replace the loss of salt. Treatment: Far all infection, 200gms ofNaCl to 100 litres of H20 andfor preventing dehydration IOOgms NaCl to 100 litres ofH20 All the chemicals are non-cffoctive against organisms hidden undcmcath the scales or within the epidermis and beyond. And the most possible protozoa in the gut belong to the family of flagellates exclusive of Piscinoodinium, which are generally ecto-flagcllates. The dosages of the different chemicals for short bath and long bath are also discussed in my first book, Discus, The Naked Truth, page 151 to 154 and treatment systems from pagc 131 to 149. For endo-parasites, chemicals are not applicable but instead, drugs and antibiotics are used. Metronidazole and Gabbrocol are effective against most flagellates that infest the gut whi le Praziquantel, Levamisole and Flubendazol are effective against cestodes and nematodes. Of course there are many other parasites both ecto- and endo in the aquatic world and may need other forms of treatment but generally, the above mentioned chemicals are sufficient to counter the comrnon external parasites found in discus tank. I also wish to highlight the general misconception. Even though many would want to get rid of cestodes and nematodes as they may be present in sorne discus cultures, they are not responsible for the many discus mo1ialities and they are not as invasive as flagellates or monogenean wonns (gill and body flukes). As for viral infections, there is really nothing rnuch we can do as most of all the aquatic viruses are nontreatable and need either vaccine to incite immune response or maintain good water quality and

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increase appropriate nutritious supplement intake to stimulate the thymus gland to produce more efficient T cells and produce more Cytotoxic cells with more powerful weapons to effectively perfonn their search and destroy mission . This leaves one group of parasites that we can still triumph over and those are endo-bacteria. Antibiotics can be given in water and/or in feed. Antibiotics can basically be divided into two groups of actions. 1) Bacteriostatic a. Exerting their antimicrobial effect by the inhibition of protein synthesis

b. lnterferes with the reproduction of the genetic code 2) Bactericide -

a. lnterference with the enzyme DNA gyrase b. Bactericidal action by inhibiting septum and/or bacteria/ cell wa/I synthesis When selecting the antibiotic(s) to use, consideration must also be given to their rnicrobiology like whether it is effective against gram-negative or gram-positive or both and whether it covers the specific bacte1ium you intend to eliminate. But for a layman, there are many obstacles to accurately diagnose an illness or gaining acccss to all the antibiotics . Not only is the wholc evaluation process costly, not everyone can have sufficient fishes to sacrifice. Only breeders like me who operates a farm has the license to purchase controlled drugs at will hence my limitless experimentations with antibiotics in the past. And only breeders who have strong interest and are committed to research and development, like me, are willing to walk through the doors of the unknown , a route of indulgence in the costJy in-depth study of illnesses. Therefore it is not easy for the general public to go througb what I have gone through. So, to most of the aquarists, be them hobbyists or commercial breeders , diagnosis is done througb visual inspection of the fish aod therefore, end up taking up a course of action that may not necessaril y yield result. For the general aquarists, accuracy in diagnosis is impeded by the costly laboratorial investigation, the need to sacrifice those affected fishes and drug accessibility. Therefore, for most people, decision as to which antibiotic to use is usually based on presumption, convenience, drug-accessibility, past success of similar symptom or recommendation by other aquarists, and is usually not based on current diagnosis, strain-specific or a selection based on result from antibiotic-bacterium sensitive study. These practices have led to the many resistant strains of bacteria and rendered many antibiotics ineffective. With the above in mind and sympathising with aquarists' short-coming, if antibiotic is to be used, it must be one that is designed to cover the widest spectrum possible. It must also be one that covers both the gram-positive and gram-negative. As to the action of the antibiotic, it must be both bacteriostatic and a bactericide. Thougb sorne antibiotics have both actions, using multiple antibiotics with multiple action and microbiology narrows the chance of creating resistant strains of bacteria . You can go along these lines to create your own multi-antibiotic that will be all-rounded and effective against most bacteria.1 infection across the board. Once you have found an effective combination, keep it to yourself and hold dear this secret. Never disseminate the formulation to anyone so as to prevent misuse. Through years of research into the different antibiotics and their effectiveness , we were able to concoct a multi-antibiotics fonnulation known as FUCIN. A well-designed concoction of antibiotics that is effective against both gram-positive and gram negative water-borne bacteria that usually infect aquatic animals.

lndication: Bacterial bloated belly Excessive body slime Split fins Lateral-Unes bacteria! infection Cloudy fin and dark body Darkening of body and hiding in corner Two weeks old epidemic Four weeks syndrome Quarantine of incoming fishes Pre-export fish quarantine treatment Additive to packing water

Dosage: Treat for 12 days with every 4 days water-change and re-dose to strength at 3gms of fucin to 100 litres of H20.

Treatment method: Treatment is best to be carried out in clinical tank as it is expected to affect the biological filtration system and may be phyto-toxic. During treatment, maintain water pH at 6.5 and below. Add normal salt, sodium chloride, at a ratio of 1oogms to 1oolitres of water to prevent dehydration.

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Page 86

Diseases and Treatments An infonnative discus book can do without topics like packing, photo gallery or even an introduction but it is quite incomplete if a topic on diseases and treatments is not discussed. Therefore , even though much were discussed in my first book like an overview of discus pathog ens...the many suggested treatments for different scenarios and a general list of medications and chemicals to apply, this topic still has its place in this book . But thc present approach to this topic is dissimilar to my first book and this is al 1 because of the invaluable views and suggestions from my readers and supporters. They wrote to me suggesting that I should include photos of discus autopsies and importantly, drawings if not photos of microscopic organisms commonly found in discus or the cornmon pathogens of discus físh. Finally, I chose thc option to draw as drawing is more defined. I strongly support their suggestions as l find such coverage on autopsy shouJd be an eye-opener for nonbiology students and enlightening to most readers . Therefore, this chapter will be divided into four sections . The first section will feature photos of the discus' anatomy starting with the exterior perspective view and tben move into dissection , part by part, showing eacb organ in stages. The second section will feature micro-organisms commonly found in discus or pathogens of discus fish. The third part is a short coverage of the basic skill to perfom1 autopsy. The fourth part will be a holistic approach to treatment. Tt will be a 'short and sharp' method for any emergency.

Discos Anatomy: a) This is my field autopsy equipment set. There are items that are non-essentials and are added for my convenience and personal use. Hooked-pinccrs

Zip-lock bags

Blades Lockable-grippers

Crafted-pincers

Tissucs Scissors

Nail-clippers Blade-holder

-- Page87

Glass-cover Digger

b) These are the conventional magnifier and microscope ( unlinked to computer)

e) A perspective view of a discus Lateral lines

Dorsal fin Iris

Pupil

Nares

Opcrculum Pelvic fin

Streamer

Streamer Urogeni tal opening

Anal fin

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d) A superficially dissected discus

. .'. '



e) Operculum

Operculum

Pump membran e

Gill filaments

f) Heart

Heart is separated from other organs by tough tissues wall

Deflated heart

g) Belly Compartment

Overview

Cavity

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h) Liver

i) Gallbladder

Two parts of the liver

Overview

GaUbladder behind liver

Gallbladder viewed from the right

j) Spleen

Spleen from left

Spleen on right of another fish

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k) Stomach

Stomach viewed from right

l) Pancreas

Stomach viewed from the left

Stomach punctured

Pancreatic tissue surrounding anterior part of the intestine This is from another sample

m) Upper section of intestinal tract

Intestine overview

Upper section of intestine

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n) Lower section of intestine tract

Intestine overview

Lower section of the intestinal tract

o) Anus

Anus & Urogenetic opening

Posterior of intestine

Gamete delivery-duct

p) Gamete sacs

These are ali males thus milt sacs. If female, there will be a pair of egg sacs

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q) Air bladder

Airbladder overview

Punctured

Torn to review interior

r) Kidney

Kidney hidden out of sight

There are two sets of kidneys and one is at the anterior

One set is at anterior and the other set is a long strip along tbe vertebrae

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Di scus Pathogen The following are micro-organi sms living either in the water-body or on tbe discus, most of the time, as parasites . ..but in critical moments and when they are in significant amount, they bccome pathogenic. Tbe following are sketches in place of real time digital microscopic -captions as I prefer to draw the organisms out. I do understand that microscop ic captions may be of interest to sorne readers but even with a fairly powerful microscope, the details of may not be well-defined enough for general readers to decipher. Therefore, drawings can illustrate the organisms ve1y much better.

Protoopalina symphysodonis

Costia Side view

Top view

commonly found in discus on live aquatic anima Is like Bloodworm and Tubiflex

Front view

lchthyophthirius multifiliis

Trichodina

common name:White spot

Top view,Very common in cultured system

Chilodone l la

Tetra hymena

Top view , Very common in cultured system

Guppy killer

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I \

1'

\ J' 1

1 1 1

Gyrodactylus

Dactylogyrus

Common name: Body Fluke (live-bearer)

Common name: Gill Fluke (egg layer)

\ Hexamita spp.

Spironucleus spp.

Commonly known as intestinal flagellate

Intestinal flagellate known for HITH

-

¿ . ··.:.-• ,,, !

Trichomonas spp.

Bodomonas spp.

Commonly known as Skin Flagellate

Commonly known as intestinal flagellate

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Trypanosome spp.

Cryptobia spp.

Blood flagellate that infests wild fishes

Blood flagellate causing sleeping sickness

JI

Trypanoplasma spp.

Capillaria spp.

Blood fi;:igellate causing sleepíng sickness

Under the Nematode family

.I

I'

I

J

- ¡,:

L

¡

/

Oxyurida spp.

Vorticella spp.

Pinworm/threadworm. Nematode family

Cilates generally non-pathogenic

Page 97

,

Autopsy Procedure Having gone through sorne of the discus pathogens , we will now go through the autopsy procedure step by step. The organ we will be using to illustrate is the operculum . Once you understand the process, there should be no problern at ali to do the sarne for other organs. If there is othcr vital information you need to take note while dissecting other organs beside the operculum, it shall be highlighted.

Pin down the discus with pins. Kili humanely eithe1· to brain or anterior of vertebral.

r First step: Scrape mucus off from different bodiJy parts for ectop rasite. Place a glass over.

T Acld a drop of water to space betwccn the two glasses. View through 200X magnification.

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Next organ: Examine underside of the operculum (pump). Check for puncture/infection

Because of the thick bridge, cut off filaments, press the cover and dro¡> water in-between

Still partially functioning liver but is already dying. A poisoned, non-functioning splcen From this point onwards,samplings of other organs are taken and inspected. The sequence is quite standard. From external swap, the next organ is the operculum .From here, you look at the liver's texture superficially to ensure that it is not degenerating or unusualness. If so, then there is a possibility that it may be chemical, drug or diet related. Resides these, it may also be viral or bacterial. If you suspect it is pathogen-related, send ten pieces of discus to the laboratory as the pathologist has the full equipments to perform a holistic investigation like Bacteria-culture (Bacto) and Histology (Histo).

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After the inspection of the liver is completed and liver removed, look at the Spleen. It shouJd not be too big so the onJy way to understand what is within limit is through numerous autopsies and experience and a normal size in relation to size of discus. Spleen being the filter for any invader namely bacteria, should not be overworked and hence a relatively normal smaJI size is acceptable. This is also why many veteran pathologists, while taking samples for bacteria-culture, would never miss one fro:

the J spleen. Therefore if the spleen is oversized, further investigation may be deemed necessary as it might be overworked. Leave this part to a qualified pathologist.

Nothing was mentioned about the heart. Do you think I have missed it? No, it is just that it is unnecessary to inspect it in normal autopsy. So, tlie next level of investigation is the digestive tract, from the stomach to the anus. GentJy stretcb out the digestive tract preventing it from breaking. Identify the location of the stomach and cut a short section of 3 to 4mm, place it on the glass plate. Place the glass cover over it. Compress tbe space between the glass cover and the glass plate as much as possible but caution has to be taken not to break the thin cover. After that, drip a drop or two of water inbetween the two glasses to loosen the content and ease the mobility of potential pathogens for better examination and identification. The next step is to locate another 3 to 4mm portion of the upper intestine that may or may not have food within. Do the same as above and check for parasites. For this phase of investigation, we should have at least two samplings, one 3 to 4mm section of the intestine with waste and a section of the anus or as many as you prefer. The rest of tbe procedure will be the same as previous.

The last organ to inspect is the kidney .It is impossible do much with the kidney except to send it for bacto or histo. Only superficial inspection is possible for us.

Wltcn dissecting a living animal, tite first important thing you nced to perform aftcr pinning tite fish down is to humancly tcrminate its life. You can do that either by cutting or poking a sharp object into the brain or a through-cut of the anterior part of the vertebral column. In many occasions,incomplete cut on the brain or the vertebral column rcsulted in thc fish remaining alive and that is very cruel. Imagine cutting and tearing apart part by part while the animal is still alivc. How would it feel, receiving pain in real timc?

No 1novement =I= Death. Therefore, be kind and ensure 100% that it is dead.

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Finally, our Jevel of autopsy is restricted by the Jimitation of speciaJizcd equipments. Therefore our scope covers only the preliminary investigation for micro-organisms, that of protozoa and worms. Bacteria and viruses which are generally smalJer than two micros in size are not included. In simple microscopic-ten11, magnification of 50 tünes to 400 times is the range we will be looking through. In most autopsies, one sa1nple is insufficient to affitm a finding or affirm the parasite found to be the culprit. UsualJy, a minimum of five discus samples should be considered reasonably sufficient to support any finding. Though our task is preliminary, we can use magnification above 400 to see sorne bacteria movements even though identification is difficult and the main investigation should be left to the lab. In view of bacteria-related investigation, the sample is best to be al ive or a postmortem done within half an hour. Our concern is what aerobes are invoJved. But if the sample has been dead for more than haJf an hour and with another half an hour of dissection, most of the aerobes would have died off and instead, anaerobes emerge and take over the corpse. Thc anaerobes are not what we are looking for. They are oxygen-starved organisms and for an amateur, may mistaken them as the cause. Holistic Approach to treatment I hope the infonnation and photographs in this chapter meet the expectation of readers. With the basic autopsy skill and sketches of the common pathogens, Iam sure you are ready to try out the autopsy technique. But there is one setback for most hobbyists. Do they have enough discus for dissection to practice in order to sharpen their ski.U? Generally , only large-scale breeders can put aside spare discus for that purpose. As for general hobbyists , it would best to acquire cheap ornamental fishes for practice. Discus is not cheap. In fact this is what T have been stressing in my fi.rst book. Subjecting a sick discus to autopsy is a va lued-move but autopsy means killing the discus. What happens if an aquarist has only a few discus or that sick discus is his favourite? Should he subject that discus to autopsy to find out the cause or try saving that poor fish? 1 am sure hobbyist would choose the latter especially if he has limited resource .

T have come across sorne very useful book written by biologists specialising in pathology , books that have wide coverage of pathogens in food-ftsh and ornamental fish industries. T believe these books are most beneficial for those involved in the study of pathology and big players in the industries that havc a patholog y department/ laboratory. Unfortunately , from hobbyists' perspectivc, these books, though informative and self-enriching, have practica !limitation in reality and they may be unable to

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exploit them fully. It is my belief that most authors tailor their book for professionals ....biologist to biologist. In autopsy, practice is necessary and thc more practices one gets, thc more proficient he will be. But then again, that would require sacrificing lots of precious discus. So it is feasible for those hobbyists witb limited stock? So, it would be good to designa frontline treatment system tbat is effective and could prevent íurther complications or even mortality without having to go through autopsy hence saving the saveable discus from the knife.

An emergency treatment system is one to be applied instantiy Upon sign of distress without giving second thought or the need for autopsy In fact, many discus bobbyists, whether pathology-savvy or discus veterans, use guessing as a diagnostic too) and administer treatmcnt according to their presumption without resorting to autopsy. Though this practice may, at times, yield great successes, many discus enthusiasts may fail to save their discus. I know of guys who are actually convicted that the chcmical or drug they have in possession is a cure-all and a life-saver of the day regardless of the cause, just becausc it has saved their discus in past occasions. Because of thcir stubbornness, a few of thcsc guys encountcred multiple infections but were reluctant to source for new treatments resulting in 90% mortality in their hatchery. One guy I knew back in the eighties had near total loss. Therefore, a standard approach to solving discus problem should be in place. I wou l d like to suggest two treatment systems. One is a Standard Prophylactic System and the other is an Emergency

Evaluation and Emergency treatment system. -

- - .-_ --.----TF""",---- - - ,.-.-....-

Standard Prophylactic Treatment performedi évery 1u. 1110ugh .,.,.01u µ nenon 1s uncommon in human, according to scient1sts, 1t has been found to exist in certatn orgamsms Mu/tiple Afieles: Havtnq more than one equal pair of al/eles at the locus mfluencing a ,.,. •notyptc express1on/trait. In fact, thts is common in many organisms Polygenic traits: Trait resulting from two or more loci. This 1s common in many 01ganisms :me:;:, anda/so in humans Trmts wJ/I show a continuous dtstnbution of phenotype. Epistasis: One qene interfe11ng w1th the action of another qene. Whenever one trait is ssed 1t affects another trmt

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Conditional Expression: A s1tuat10n wh re the f1 h ha certa1 genotyp, ot a lo us and can only be e>:.pr 'i'i d und r certain nd1t1on mot /1kely nv1ronmental r throuyh 1n1..1tement. The red m p1geon d1s us may be a cond1t10nal expre s1on Sex-linked: A trait that is carried by the fema/E X OJromosome In orne ca T'-"r L o 7 Ji: p,, (' I r '' re 1 dGreen; Red Dtamond; Eruption

c)

Turquoise-stripes or Turquoise Fu/1-Coloured with stripes on operculum {Nine stress- bars). ...u .,r1 r m nt tn fu -JL 7 urc.u... ,.. [)1 1 _s. /i e, c..rr t1 vi, -