A large population of fish live in a lake. The color of their scales is determined by two different alleles of the S gene, S1 and S2. Homozygous S1 fish have yellow scales, S2 homozygotes have blue scales, and heterozygotes are green. Scientists catch 100 fish at random and record their color. Among those 100 fish are 30 yellow, 50 blue, and 20 green ones.

After the original sample is analyzed, an asteroid landed in the lake and killed all the fish that happened to be in one location. When 100 fish were sampled again, 15 were yellow, 75 were blue, and 10 were green.

-The fish population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium before the asteroid hit.

Question

A large population of fish live in a lake. The color of their scales is determined by two different alleles of the S gene, S1 and S2. Homozygous S1 fish have yellow scales, S2 homozygotes have blue scales, and heterozygotes are green. Scientists catch 100 fish at random and record their color. Among those 100 fish are 30 yellow, 50 blue, and 20 green ones.

After the original sample is analyzed, an asteroid landed in the lake and killed all the fish that happened to be in one location. When 100 fish were sampled again, 15 were yellow, 75 were blue, and 10 were green.

-The fish population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium before the asteroid hit.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fish population is not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium before the asteroid hit because the observed frequencies of the genotypes (yellow, blue, and green fish) do not match the expected frequencies calculated using the Hardy-Weinberg principle, indicating that one or more of the Hardy-Weinberg conditions were not met.

A Large Population of Fish Live in a Lake