The North American freshwater fish family Centrarchidae is well known for extensive natural hybridization, but there are no reports of voluntary spawning between genera. We document courtship and spawning in an aquarium between two separate pairs of a male Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) and a female Sacramento Perch (Archoplites interruptus). One trial resulted in a low frequency of fertilized eggs, but these did not survive beyond the blastula stage. Fossil and molecular evidence suggests that these species have been isolated for at least 15 million years, so this spawning implies that courtship among species can persist longer during species divergence than previously appreciated.
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The American Midland Naturalist
Vol. 156 • No. 2
October 2006
Vol. 156 • No. 2
October 2006