Are short bodied Oscar's common? I've never seen one before. Is this due to inbreeding? This fish was at my lfs.
Short body oscar
- Thread starter Tsn
- Start date
I've seen a few lately, I assumed they were line bred to get the short body like balloon Rams and mollies. The selling point is you can keep the, in smaller tanks than a natural one.
I don't like them personally, if you want an Oscar I'd get a big tank and get a "real" one, not something that's bred to be deformed.
I don't like them personally, if you want an Oscar I'd get a big tank and get a "real" one, not something that's bred to be deformed.
They are mutations that (IMO) should've been culled, but in the same order as propensity to want balloon goldfish, are found by some to be novelties, and become marketable.
In any cichlid spawn there will be mutations that in nature would be eliminated by the laws of survival of the fittest, or if better suited to the environment, survive and take over.
When these mutations occur in aquarium spawns, and someone removes and saves these anomalies, and then breeds them together, we get the short bodies (with crammed together inner organs) screwed up mouth parts and forms (like BRPs) and the host of others we find more and more in our Pokemon induced Anime society.
In any cichlid spawn there will be mutations that in nature would be eliminated by the laws of survival of the fittest, or if better suited to the environment, survive and take over.
When these mutations occur in aquarium spawns, and someone removes and saves these anomalies, and then breeds them together, we get the short bodies (with crammed together inner organs) screwed up mouth parts and forms (like BRPs) and the host of others we find more and more in our Pokemon induced Anime society.
first Oscar ive seen with a short body certainly seems unnatural to me and could have serious consequences internally. That said like said above some people will admire these fish and each to their own I suppose. Same idea with dogs that are breed to have short snouts suffer from breathing problems. We as humans usually cater to consumers rather than welfare as much as it pains me to say. 