The Toothpick Fish Lab

In the wild, many animals get eaten. However, some are able to survive because they are able to camouflage and hide in their environment. They can become camouflage because of the alleles they receive from their parents. With this in mind, I have constructed an experiment that describes the relationship between genetics and the wild.

In the first generation of fish, there were twelve total fish; six green (50%), two yellow (17%) four orange (33%) and no red (0%). This is a normal amount of green fish because the color green is the dominant allele and the red and yellow alleles are recessive alleles. Also, the red and yellow alleles combined for incomplete dominance, which produces the color of orange. In the second, third, and fourth generations, all yellow fish were eaten because of their inability to camouflage. With this in mind, there would be less yellow and orange fish and more green and red. In the second generation, there were eleven total fish; six green (55%), two red (18%), two yellow (18%), and one orange (9%). There were still yellow fish because there were still yellow alleles. Also, the red allele was more apparent. In the third generation, there were only nine fish; seven green (78%), and two fish (22%), but no yellow or orange fish. This was the case because all of the yellow fish were eaten. This paved the way for more green and red fish. In addition, there were only two yellow alleles left. Since there were no yellow fishes in the third generation, there was no possible way that the number of fishes decreased in the fourth generation. Therefore, there were still nine fish. There were six green fish (66%), two red fish (23%), and one orange fish (11%). You can see that one of the two yellow alleles remaining mixed with a red allele to form an orange fish. In the fifth generation, disaster struck as algae and seaweed was destroyed by factory waste. As an effect green fish couldn’t camouflage as they were eaten. So, there were only three fish left; two red (67%) and one orange (33%). Obviously, there were many green fish eaten so the population decreased dramatically.

There are several ways I could have changed this lab. First, I could have selected different alleles. For instance, I could have had more orange and red fish so there would be less decrease of the overall fish population. Also, this project has shown me how genes affect nature. The color of an organism can be the decision if it survives or eaten, like the fish in the lab. If an organism cannot hide in it environment and protect itself, then it will be eaten by the prey. This can then pose a huge concern to scientist because many of these organisms can become endangered, many extinct. With this in mind, scientists should try to make a “designer organism”, designing it the way they want it, so it can live in its habitat successfully. Genetics has a lot to do with nature, and this lab showed me how.