Injured fin or permanent birth defect?

[H]-[H]

Today I went to a lfs & saw this senegal bichir.. It was the biggest among all the bichirs there, about 6".. At first I spotted something unusual with its left pectoral fin but then I thought it was nothing..
After getting it home & had a closer inspection, its left fin looks deformed.. It's not fully open(curled) compared to its right fin.. Is this a birth defect or can it be healed? I'm bothered by this because my flowerhorn has similar deformity on its left fin & never healed(must be birth defect)..
I'm really angry at myself for not taking a closer look before buying.. Please advise.. Thx.
Pics below:

 

[haynchinook334]

i don't think it'll spread back out...i hope i'm wrong.

 

[uwe]

Hello,

it' seems to be curious, but my female P.senegalus also have a severed left pectoral fin! When i bought this lil lady in a very ugly pet shop (bought? Type of rescue!) the pectoral fin was freshly damaged (i think from some bigger fish in the tank - oscars, cichlids and all the fish soup one can find in a bad-sorted community tank in a much badder pet shop!) ... the lil lady Sen was 2-3" to this time.
The injury healed but the pectoral fin remains in a similar severed condition as you see on your sen - no change after over 8 years! Seems it will remain ...

Greetings
Uwe

 

[Infblue]

hard to say if its injury or birth defect. Even if it's an injury, it doesn't look like a fresh one, so it probably has 'healed' already, in which case, like Uwe said, it could remain that way.

 

[H]-[H]

If it is indeed an injury, is there any way to make the fins back to normal?

 

[SUNFLOWER]

I say keep him love him and as long as it swims ok and the fish has no problem give it a good home .

 

[H]-[H]

I say keep him love him and as long as it swims ok and the fish has no problem give it a good home .

I'll.. I'm just bothered by the fact that it will remain in this condition for life..

 

[Burbotman]

I can relate. That is the exact same defect that my endi has. I got the endi at 2 1/2 inch and noticed when I got it home that its left ventral?(back fin behind pectoral ) was extremly cupped, more so than yours.
I figured it was an injury and would straighten out.
Well 2 years and 13" later the fin is the exact same. Cupped and gimbled.
I was dissappointed at first, however I have come to view it as what makes my endi unique.

A little like Nemo.

Joe

 

[H]-[H]

I can relate. That is the exact same defect that my endi has. I got the endi at 2 1/2 inch and noticed when I got it home that its left ventral?(back fin behind pectoral ) was extremly cupped, more so than yours.
I figured it was an injury and would straighten out.
Well 2 years and 13" later the fin is the exact same. Cupped and gimbled.
I was dissappointed at first, however I have come to view it as what makes my endi unique.

A little like Nemo.

Joe

I totally understand how you feel, bro.. The same thing happened to my flowerhorn & I've come to accept its "unique" appearance..
There's one more thing I would like to try out.. I plan to spread out it's cupped fin to see if it helps.. Do you guys think it will be ok?

 

[gmachine19]

My ornate has a perfect pectoral fin... well almost if you didnt see the extra fin it has behind its right pecs. Plus her lower lips protrude further than the upper lip. Now thats a quasimodo for you. But it didnt bother me and now she's 12".