The short body gene is very likely a form of dwarfism in fish. It's a recessive gene that in a sense has an accumulative effect. Think of it like this...Two animals that have pale blue eyes produce offspring that have slightly darker blue eye's....by line breeding (inbreeding) back to other animals that carry the gene, and always choosing the animals with the bluest eye's you end up with an animal with intensely dark blue eye's. This is probably a horribly inaccurate analogy but it serves the purpose.
Most if not all Flowerhorn carry the short body gene. Even the very large full size Kamfa are meant to have a compact look to them, more oblong in shape than oval in shape.
As a Flowerhorn enthusiast (short body in particular) I feel a responsibility to be informed on all aspects of keeping them.
First these fish are hybrids and therefore genetically unstable. The overall health of the adult fish is directly related to the breeder's sense in choosing his stock. If he chose unwisely you'll have a fish that may be more prone to disease, poor organ function, facial and or spinal deformities, behavior disorder's, etc.
Don't get me wrong theres a lot of awesome FH out there thanks to a few dedicated people but just be aware of the downside.
When choosing stock grow them out as long as you possibly can. Don't just choose the one you love with that tiny flaw over a healthier one that may not express the gene (whatever your breeding for) as strongly. What you start with is what you'll end up with in a sense. Weed all flawed stock out immediately. Sell them as display animal's if you want. If you've selected your grow outs well, there shouldn't be any badly deformed fry.
Look for stocky, vigorous, grower's/eater's, of good color, check pectoral fin's for evenness of length, check mouth and all other fins for evenness and deformity. Look for good overall conformation, is the tail aligned properly and or bent etc. The peduncle should be even and smooth, not sharply dimpled, bent or creased. Also check the sides for obvious spinal deformity, especially with very short body fish. You may see an obvious lump/bump on the fish's side, as if it is crooked in that spot. This can occur almost anywhere along the length of the fish's side.
If you choose (as I did) to breed very sb fish pay very close attention to fin shape/functionality, overly long or drooped/bent fin's make for a clumsy swimmer that will never develop it's full musculature.
Peduncle conformation, the conformation of the peduncle should give a sense of balance and alignment in the overall shape of the fish. If it is heavily dimpled, creased, or placed overly low/high it may lead to not only a slow clumsy swimmer but an adult fish that has swim bladder and other internal problems.
Under/overbite's, parrot mouth or notched head shape are a whole other set of problems. While some of these problem's are aesthetic some are not. These traits seem to vary considerably from hybrid to hybrid. Some start out with a parrot mouth that while strange in appearance doesn't seem to be an impediment. Some start out with normal mouth's that with age deform into a barely functional shape that bears little resemblance to the first example I used.
Gill deformity is another common sb defect that I haven't even mentioned yet. Parrots are notorious for it and some FH have it. Be aware that gill deformity (as with all deformities) can occur at any stage from fry to young adult. It is still possible for deformities to occur in older fish but not as common.
Whether your choosing a new purchase or breeding stock from fry you've bred make sure your choosing with all of the above in mind.
Most if not all Flowerhorn carry the short body gene. Even the very large full size Kamfa are meant to have a compact look to them, more oblong in shape than oval in shape.
As a Flowerhorn enthusiast (short body in particular) I feel a responsibility to be informed on all aspects of keeping them.
First these fish are hybrids and therefore genetically unstable. The overall health of the adult fish is directly related to the breeder's sense in choosing his stock. If he chose unwisely you'll have a fish that may be more prone to disease, poor organ function, facial and or spinal deformities, behavior disorder's, etc.
Don't get me wrong theres a lot of awesome FH out there thanks to a few dedicated people but just be aware of the downside.
When choosing stock grow them out as long as you possibly can. Don't just choose the one you love with that tiny flaw over a healthier one that may not express the gene (whatever your breeding for) as strongly. What you start with is what you'll end up with in a sense. Weed all flawed stock out immediately. Sell them as display animal's if you want. If you've selected your grow outs well, there shouldn't be any badly deformed fry.
Look for stocky, vigorous, grower's/eater's, of good color, check pectoral fin's for evenness of length, check mouth and all other fins for evenness and deformity. Look for good overall conformation, is the tail aligned properly and or bent etc. The peduncle should be even and smooth, not sharply dimpled, bent or creased. Also check the sides for obvious spinal deformity, especially with very short body fish. You may see an obvious lump/bump on the fish's side, as if it is crooked in that spot. This can occur almost anywhere along the length of the fish's side.
If you choose (as I did) to breed very sb fish pay very close attention to fin shape/functionality, overly long or drooped/bent fin's make for a clumsy swimmer that will never develop it's full musculature.
Peduncle conformation, the conformation of the peduncle should give a sense of balance and alignment in the overall shape of the fish. If it is heavily dimpled, creased, or placed overly low/high it may lead to not only a slow clumsy swimmer but an adult fish that has swim bladder and other internal problems.
Under/overbite's, parrot mouth or notched head shape are a whole other set of problems. While some of these problem's are aesthetic some are not. These traits seem to vary considerably from hybrid to hybrid. Some start out with a parrot mouth that while strange in appearance doesn't seem to be an impediment. Some start out with normal mouth's that with age deform into a barely functional shape that bears little resemblance to the first example I used.
Gill deformity is another common sb defect that I haven't even mentioned yet. Parrots are notorious for it and some FH have it. Be aware that gill deformity (as with all deformities) can occur at any stage from fry to young adult. It is still possible for deformities to occur in older fish but not as common.
Whether your choosing a new purchase or breeding stock from fry you've bred make sure your choosing with all of the above in mind.
