Eyes Cloudiness when in Aggressive Mode

[Red Aimara]

Something I have observed for a couple of years when keeping Aimara, Curupira and even my Cuban gar displayed this condition.

Not too sure about other species but if fellow members can share their observations, perhaps the mods can move this to general discussion. (I am not sure whether this has been discussed before but perhaps it can help newer hobbyists to alleviate their worries if they came to similar situation).

Back to the subject: I noticed when my Aimara / Curupira / Cuban gar were in excited or aggressive mode, their eyes get "cloudy" as well as their colors turn darker.

Not to be confused with poor health or water parameters that caused cloudy eyes - all these conditions were tip top.

A couple of minutes when these fishes had calmed down, their eyes returned to normal condition. Any keepers of these species noticed the same occurrence?

Let's share and discuss.

 

[kno4te]

Color I've seen but not the eyes. For sure that's interesting.

 

[moe214]

I never noticed that, but will look out for it now that you mention it

 

[kno4te]

I assume the eyes are similar to a persons during a flight or fight response. The iris will get bigger to get more light in. I wouldn't expect during an aggressive episode for the eyes to get cloudy. Could it be light being reflected and being seen as cloudy. Don't seem right. Wonder what other languages think.

 

[Red Aimara]

A couple of pics I found online (credit: MFK and PFK) with this. Noticed the eyes gets colored / cloudy especially when the fish is flaring.

The 2nd pic reflects the condition more accurately.

 

[moe214]

They're not flaring in either pics..

 

[Red Aimara]

They're not flaring in either pics..

The 2nd pic is very likely to be "after flare" pose. Will try to observe the behavior of my two Mala and try to document it with pics and vids of possible.

 

[moe214]

You can tell a wolf is flared by their dorsal fin being down and they'll hunch their back a lot, though that aimara kinda has one regularly obviously lol. And they'll have the rest of there fins fully spread. And alright looking forward to it.