Pretty good evidence. That blood parrots are the result of some kind of RD/midas X synspilum cross seems fairly likely.
But not proof. We don't know the blood line of the RD/midas parent. It's obvious that a blood parrot has RD/midas genes. The RD/midas parent might have blood parrot genes from a past crossing.....and after a number generations, carrying these genes, but not expressing them.
Not inconceivable that a short body is a mutation that just shows up from time to time......and really has nothing to do with hybridization. In this case just a coincidence that it came from a crossing.....the real blood parrot being nothing more then a RD/midas mutant.
Deformed heads can occur with other CA crossings. Many years ago (around 1980-1982) my brother crossed JD X mayan. He didn't like them so he gave them to me. Every single one of them had a deformed head, sort of similar, though not as extreme as a blood parrot. I grew them to 2-3" and ended up using them as feeders, since they were deformed and I needed the tank space. For years I associated CA hybirdization with deformed heads and when I first seen a pic of a blood parrot, around 2000, was sure they were hybrids because of the deformed head. I have long since learned that deformed heads are not so common with CA crosses......still it's possible with more then one CA cross and especially not inconceivable that an RD/midas cross with another species of Veija could produce similar results.
We know it is more then unlikely that a blood parrot has any severum genes. This notion likely came from a poor translation from Cantonese.......possibly a hybrid fish used in the creation of a blood parrot being called a 'severum' in english, but nothing to do with the SA fish commonly known as a severum. That one of the fishes originally used in the creation of the blood parrot was synspilum or a hybrid fish predominantly synspilum, who knows? Likely will never know for certain how it was created (?).
i realize its 3 or whatever years old btw.
