Fish body composition and feel

[FINWIN]

Figured I'd start a more unusual topic. I discovered during handling/transporting or netting my fish their bodies and scales are completely different. Some would constantly 'snag' in the nets and others were easier to catch. For example, each of my fish:

Patch (BP) is the 'hardest body' fish. Her scales are large, thick and dense. She actually feels like a reptile more than a fish.

Boss and Kong (BPs) have small, smooth, thinner scales that give a soft and slippery feel.

Tango (BP) has a combination of large scales on his sides and smaller scales at the top. His scale texture has a 'grip' to it.

Bobo (Chocolate) has mid sized, smooth soft scales on his body. Head scales seem a bit denser and 'bumpy' like they overlap a bit.

Chip (Blue Severum) has very hard scales that make his body feel like rough sandpaper. They have a raised edge.

Brick (Oscar) has thick, large heavy scales that are hard.


This was something I just noticed without realizing it until recently. The synos having no scales are smooth as a baby's butt, lol.

As far as weight goes, I haven't actually weighed any of my fish. But this I do know:

Chip is amazingly heavy despite this thin profile.

The parrots have what I call 'solid' weight. Kong and Tango may be the heaviest in the net even though Boss is bulkiest.

Bobo is dense and heavy for his size (~6 inches)

I have no clue what my Oscar weighs, but he bent one of my large nets when I tried hauling his ass out one time. I ended up getting a trout net. Feels like picking up a lead brick.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Figured I'd start a more unusual topic. I discovered during handling/transporting or netting my fish their bodies and scales are completely different. Some would constantly 'snag' in the nets and others were easier to catch. For example, each of my fish:

Patch (BP) is the 'hardest body' fish. Her scales are large, thick and dense. She actually feels like a reptile more than a fish.

Boss and Kong (BPs) have small, smooth, thinner scales that give a soft and slippery feel.

Tango (BP) has a combination of large scales on his sides and smaller scales at the top. His scale texture has a 'grip' to it.

Bobo (Chocolate) has mid sized, smooth soft scales on his body. Head scales seem a bit denser and 'bumpy' like they overlap a bit.

Chip (Blue Severum) has very hard scales that make his body feel like rough sandpaper. They have a raised edge.

Brick (Oscar) has thick, large heavy scales that are hard.


This was something I just noticed without realizing it until recently. The synos having no scales are smooth as a baby's butt, lol.

As far as weight goes, I haven't actually weighed any of my fish. But this I do know:

Chip is amazingly heavy despite this thin profile.

The parrots have what I call 'solid' weight. Kong and Tango may be the heaviest in the net even though Boss is bulkiest.

Bobo is dense and heavy for his size (~6 inches)

I have no clue what my Oscar weighs, but he bent one of my large nets when I tried hauling his ass out one time. I ended up getting a trout net. Feels like picking up a lead brick.

Hmm interesting topic, can't say I've heard anyone ask this question before atleast. As for my fish there's only a few that I really remember handling on a regular basis. First one was my giant gourami, never got to name it but it had very larger scales to it that had a semi-rough/smooth texture, kind of hard to describe it, but it was roughly 2lb. when it past away and barely fit in my largest net. The second was my dear late Jr. and he had a very soft small scaling to him, he weighed about 1.5 lbs and was very easy to net because he would attack it head on lol. The third one was my King Kong parrot (parthonax) and he was a chunky boi, very very soft large scales and never fit the net because of how fat he was. He weighed roughly 3lbs by the time he past of old age and he was the only fish I had to move by hand rather then using a net. I'll try to add pics of all three if I still have em.

 

[esoxlucius]

The closest I get to any of my fish is my giant gourami, he likes a tickle every now and again. But he's in the water as I do it and i'll just gently touch his flank with my finger. It's not wise properly handling fish out of water. You can mess their slime coat up which protects them, not to mention stress them out. I don't understand it when people net their fish out to measure them or to weigh them.

 

[FINWIN]

The closest I get to any of my fish is my giant gourami, he likes a tickle every now and again. But he's in the water as I do it and i'll just gently touch his flank with my finger. It's not wise properly handling fish out of water. You can mess their slime coat up which protects them, not to mention stress them out. I don't understand it when people net their fish out to measure them or to weigh them.

Probably the simplest way to weigh a fish would be in a bucket and subtract the difference in weight. I only handle my fish in emergency situations/ total tank breakdowns. I'll usually pick my fish up with wet hands. They're very calm and go limp when I do so. I've had my severum panic/scratch himself good trying to escape a net.

My Oscar's too strong for hands. He's only been in a net once since he was a tiny baby. Ended up rolling him in a wet towel then into a bucket, he bent up one net thrashing around so I ordered a trout net for future use if needed.

 

[squint]

Clown loaches are silky smooth.