As interesting as a forced hybrid would be on a very small scale production level, I dont believe that it can be forced "naturally" in a captive setting. Companies such as ORA, SA, etc, that offer interspecies hybrid clownfish, it seems like that may be, and is, a possibility to happen naturally, with female of one species (A. percula) and male of another (A. ocellaris) bonding and mating together. Their offspring from the F1 generation would most likely be sterile.
But something I've wondering is the Maroon clown and Ocellaris/Percula Hybrid thats being produced. That is now Intergenus hybridization!! That I can't fully explain without doing a little research first, in order to not make an erroneous statement.
I remember reading in a blog from one of the Aquaculture companies, that stated the first batch of Premnas biaculeatus x Amphiprion ocellaris/percula (?) was perhaps from a spawning event between pairs of both species in seperate tanks on the same system. This resulted in a cross-contamination of one species gametes with the others which were flowing throughout the systems pumps/filtration.
The hybridization in the wild, that offers up these very rare Ornamental Angels and such, is a matter of survival. When population densities become very low, fish within a genus will often look to the closest phylogenetic relative in their proximity to mate with. Good example being Black Long Nose Tangs and Scopas tangs. Lack of Black tang mate availability pushing them to breed with the Brown, or scopas, tang instead.
With broadcast spawners there is such a mix of gametes, both sperm and eggs, that Im not surprised more hybrids are produced. Perhaps they do form zygotes, but for whatever reason, the hybrid zygote/larvae/juveniles are decreased in fitness to a point that they perish or are preyed upon quickly.
This is just a bunch of stuff I'm writing off the top of my head from prior reading, research, etc. It is something I am fascinated with, and I am going to look around for more information that is available. I know that hybridization in mammals takes place in vitro/in utero, and occurs naturally as well.
Examples would be, Napoleon Dynamite's favorite animal the "Liger", a Lion Tiger hybrid, also called a Tig-on, or Ti-on when the Mother is one species and the father is the other. Not sure which is which. And the most famous of all would probably be the Horse, Donkey, and the Mule/Jackass/Burro. Lol.
Awesome stuff!
