How Big Can an Oscar Fish Grow? A Detailed Explanation of Its Physical Features
The scientific name of the oscar is Astronotus ocellatus, and its common name is the piglet fish. It belongs to the order Perciformes, the family Cichlidae, and the genus Astronotus. It is native to the Amazon River basin in Brazil in South America and to Guyana and Venezuela. So how big can an oscar grow at most? What are its breeding characteristics? Below, the TuLiuWang editor takes you into the world of the oscar~
I. Physical Features of the Oscar
The oscar is a relatively large ornamental fish, with an oval body, a large head, and a large mouth. The base of the dorsal fin is very long, starting from the back above the pectoral fins and extending all the way to the caudal peduncle; the front part of the fin rays consists of short, serrated hard spines, while the rear soft fin rays are longer. The dorsal fin and anal fin are symmetrical, and the ends of the fins are slightly rounded. The pelvic fins are thoracic in position, with pointed, strip-like ends. The rear edge of the caudal fin is rounded. The base body color is pitch black or dark brown, scattered with irregular orange-yellow patches interspersed with red stripes, which is why it is named for looking like a map. At the base of the caudal peduncle there is a round black spot surrounded by a golden ring that glitters like a star, which is why it is also called the star cichlid.
II. How Big Can an Oscar Grow at Most
The oscar has a burly, broad and thick body. The fish body is oval, deep-bodied and laterally compressed, with a fan-shaped caudal fin and a large mouth. The basic body color is black, yellow-brown, or bluish-black, with irregular orange-yellow patches and red stripes on the sides of the body, shaped like a map, hence its name. Mature fish develop a large black spot with a red-yellow edge at the caudal peduncle, shaped like an eye, which can serve as protective coloration and as a lure color. The maximum body length of this fish can reach 30cm. Under native conditions, the body length can reach 35 cm. The suitable growth water temperature is 25~30C, and the extreme survival temperature is 14C. The breeding water hardness is 4~7 degrees, with a pH of about 6.5. It is omnivorous but leans toward carnivorous, fond of eating live bait such as small fish, small shrimp, and loaches. It has a rather fierce temperament, and sometimes members of the same species fight each other. Because of its bright colors, the oscar has great ornamental value and sells in large quantities on the ornamental fish market. In our country, they were originally all imported from abroad, and since the late 1990s, people have continuously studied their breeding technology
III. Breeding Characteristics of the Oscar
Oscars reach sexual maturity at 10 months to over 1 year of age, when the body length reaches about 18 cm. The male fish has a slightly higher head, brightly colored markings, yellow patches at the gill cover that glitter with gold, a bright tail star, and slightly longer, pointed ends on the dorsal and anal fins; the female fish has a wider body, an enlarged abdomen, and coloration inferior to that of the male. One female fish can lay more than 1000 eggs. The fertilized eggs hatch into fry after 2~3 days.
Alright, the above is what the TuLiuWang editor brought you on how big an oscar can grow at most. In the next installment, the editor will bring you how to breed oscars. Friends who like it can follow TuLiuWang. See you next time