Tiger trout in MN, are natural hybrids since we do not stock tiger trout at all, just a rare hybrid that can be found in southeast MN where the breeding populations of brook and brown trout are at. They're good predators as biological control to weed out stunted brook trout. I do not know why we cannot stock these sterile tiger trout in heavily degraded trout streams.
Well, IDK if the natural hybridization are sterile.....captive bred Tigers are made sterile on purpose by a variety of low to high extreme temperatures ( or vice versa).....there's a very good chance this natural occurring race may be able to reproduce by spawning.
As many hybrids are sterile at birth like a Mule or a Liger/Tiglon, many others are NOT, such as Flowerhorns, Gulf Hammock Ratsnakes, Greenish ratsnakes, and seemingly mainly ectotherms.
Now what we must do is take into consideration the extreme of the actual genetic crossing itself; for instance, until the genus Patherophis was created, the N.American ratsnakes were still grouped as Elaphe, then supposed genetics testing classed the Grey, Yellow, Black, Everglades, Gulf Hammock, Greenish and Baird's (?) I think, as all the same species under Pantherophis, when each used to have it's own sub-species.
The Gulf Hammock was a naturally occurring INTERGRADE which occurred in NW Florida pan-handle where the 2 sub-species natural ranges overlapped, they interbred with each other.....all the offspring were also in turn, fertile, thus creating a new race, locale, or to some, a new sub-species. Would you still consider that a hybrid. Of course not.
Tiger trout may occur naturally in the wild, but when that happens, I would likely refer to it as an Intergrade, rather than a Hybrid....and the offspring very-well may be fertile.
NOW,.......when WE genetically engineer sterile Tiger trout for our own purposes, then yes, despite it being the same strain from the species and/or gena, I would refer to THAT as a hybrid or to add a little flexibility to which side of the line we're walking, we could simply go with a Unnaturally-induced Intergrade, since it does occur in the wild. This can include crossing sub-species, species, or even gena, for instance there have been naturally occurring Pacific Gopher snakeXCalifornia Kingsnakes found in the wild
Finally, when we create a combination of 2 animals that would never encounter each other in the wild such as a Savannah Cat - 50% African Serval, 50% Domestic Housecat, then we truly have what I would classify as a hybrid.
There is one I still throw up in the air for discussion, the case of the Liger/Tiglon. Most people would not think of this to occur naturally, but before the extirpation of the extinct Caspian Tiger in the 1950's, and the critically endangered Asiatic Lion, found only in the Gir Forest of India their ranges did in fact overlap. Even now, the odds are astronomical due to both Lions and Tigers becoming more and more rare in Asia, but one must still consider it a possibility that they could have or still hybridize in the wild. We would still however classify this as a Hybrid however, IMO, based on the fact that regardless of the situation, the offspring will still be sterile.
Ok, Proffessor, I'm finished my thesis [(-_-)]
(first time posting pics on a forum via mobile)
