Merah

From Guppy Wiki

Golden HB Red Merah. In Japan: Tiger Orangetail Tuxedo Merah. Hiromichi Nemoto, Japan

Golden HB Yellow Merah (Tiger Yellowtail Tuxedo Merah. Junichi Ito, Japan

HB Yellow Merah (Yellowtail Tuxedo Merah). Junichi Ito, Japan

HB Yellow Merah, sibling of the above guppy (Yellowtail Tuxedo Merah). Junichi Ito, Japan

Golden HB Yellow Merah (Tiger Yellowtail Tuxedo Merah). Junichi Ito, Japan

Other Common Names
The fin shape is also known as a "crowntail" because of its resemblance to the betta splendens crowntail shape.

Description

The Japanese refer to this fin mutation as "Merah." It appears to have lost tissue between the fin rays.

Genetics

According to Junichi Ito, the genetics of the Merah is autosomal dominant. This means that out crossing a Merah to a non-Merah fish will show the Merah phenotype. However, Junichi says that the Merah may be incompletely dominant over the normal fin shape. He cites the example of the male HB Yellow Merah pictured above.

According to Junichi, the mutation is a form of apostosis of the fin tissue. "Apostosis" is a form of cell death. From Wikipedia: Apotosis "is a process of deliberate life relinquishment by a cell in a multicellular organism. It is one of the main types of programmed cell death (PCD), and involves an orchestrated series of biochemical events leading to a characteristic cell morphology and death. The apoptotic process is executed in such a way as to safely dispose of cell corpses and fragments."

Apostosis is a normal process of the body, however apostosis of the cell fin tissue appears to be a genetic mutation.

Breeders Comments

Junichi Ito

The mutation can easily and quickly be incorporated into other strains because it is autosomal dominant.

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