Consider a population of fish where the length of a given fish's dorsal spine is determined by a single gene, which is defined by two different alleles. The dominant A allele encodes a long dorsal spine and the recessive a allele encodes a short dorsal spine. The fish is diploid and reproduces sexually. If the number of AA individuals is 500, the number of Aa individuals is 200, and the number of aa individuals is 300, then is this population in equilibrium? Why or why not?
A - It is because the number of fish with short dorsal spines is larger than the number predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation
B - It is because the number of fish with short dorsal spines is smaller than the number predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation
C - It is not because the number offish with short dorsal spines is smaller than the number predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation
D - It is not because the number of fish with short dorsal spines is larger than the number predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation
Answer: D - It is not because the number of fish with short dorsal spines is larger than the number predicted by the Hardy-Weinberg equation