Quote Originally Posted by foodchain
Maybe a typo, or I am reading wrong. But your two statements appear to be in contradiction. White tilapia by definition are tilapia...you stated that they are not "pure" as they were crossed and genes added. So what where they crossed with? I believe it's Miami Aqua-culture, Inc that claims to have the white one, from line breeding. Not hybridizing. Hybridizing would be between two species....I don't think mine are albino, as they have color in the fins. True albino would have abcense of color pigment wouldn't it? Or am I forgetting my biology.
OH, I see the problem. Yes, when I said crossed I didn't mean crossed with other species just other parents of the same species with distinct traits. We cross, like in the example, the pigment with a dominant and recessive with another parent who also has a dominant and recessive. Then we take the offspring with the double recessive (and now phenotypic trait) and cross them with each other to produce all our white tilapia. That's just an example, I have no idea how many actual genes are involved in the pigmentation.

Here is a good source: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/