Fish deformities

[Synirr]

Gill posted a thread about his/her tailless angelfish, and because I'm weird and a biology student, it got me interested in finding some pictures of other fish deformities... and boy did I ever!! If this isn't the most bizarre thing I've ever seen, I don't know what is... but it does help explain a betta I saw at my LFS once. It had what appears to be the same deformity, but at the time I figured it must have been an old wound... not that I could explain how anything could have lived through such a massive wound!

Notched deformity in angelfish

If any of you have pictures of other fish deformities, I'd be interested to see them. My very own Marie Antoinette (a midas/blood parrot hybrid) was born without a tail

 

[Fiori]

I don't know about you but I find some of those pics a bit stomach churning - those poor fish, some of them look really wierd

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, no kidding... some of them are downright disturbing!

 

[Teelie]

This is my oldest female, who at the time was spawning. About a year and a half ago. Her tail was formed that way and is natural. Hasn't stopped her at all.

 

[Valkyrie]

I don't have anything as severe as that, but I have seen a Rosy Barb with no mouth--just sort of a hole there. Then I had a Blue Gourami born without an eye and a goldfish fry with one severely underdeveloped eye. My killifish had some pretty bad scoliosis when I first bought him, though his spine has straightened out somewhat since I brought him home. Still kind of "uneven", though. Sorry I don't have any pics.

Have also seen some two-headed livebearer fry in my time, but they didn't usually last long. Most of these deformities you see are probably due to inbreeding in the attempt to hybridize these fish. A lot of the really fancy guppies, for instance, aren't nearly hardy as they used to be and their offspring has a much lower survival rate due to inbreeding.

 

[Synirr]

I've seen a blind goldfish at Walmart whose pupils were vertical slits instead of the circle they're supposed to be... It's amazing to me that he managed to live to be 3", since he quite obviously couldn't see a thing and kept bumping into other fish. I also saw a betta with a weird extra fin thing growing out of the middle of his side and connecting to his anal fin. There's a dwarf gourami that has been at my LFS forever who has a "notch" in his back like those angelfish in the link have, too.

 

[Tolak]

I've got a half dollar size angel with a bit of a notch to it, just below the tail. I read through that article some time ago when I discovered this fish in one of my spawns. It looks somewhat like #7, though not as severe, along with a bit of tail deformity, not quite split.

This is the only one I've seen, out of a couple thousand fry from this pair. By not culling this fish, it's with me for life, as it can't be bred, or sold. There's really no market for deformed fish, it makes me wonder what Dr. Norton did with all those notched angels from that breeding experiment.

I'll try to remember to take a pic & post it tomorrow.

Tolak

 

[JackDemp528]

Those angels look like something has taken a bite out of them and they healed! But no fish deformities here.

 

[Tolak]

Got a couple pics this evening, cropped & blew them up a little, the fish is in with some siblings;

Tolak

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I don't have a picture, but I have a flame tetra that was born with no eyes. He is not the only fish from the spawn to be born without eyes. There were a number of them in the tank at the lfs. they had all come like that. He was scooped up cause he couldn't see the net when it came at him. The employee gave him to me for free because she thought he wouldn't survive with no eyes. I have had him for a few months now, and he is doing great. The only difference between him and the other flame tetras in the tank is his colour. He is almost black, with a tiny red spot on his nose. His tank mates are a nice light colour, with bright red spots on their noses.

He is one of my favourite fish, and it is amazing to watch him eat. He knows where the bottom of the tank is, and where the food usually lands. He swims to that spot, and searches the bottom until he finds some food.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

It's amazing how fish/animals can adapt and overcome such disabilities, isn't it ?

 

[zelandonia]

I no longer have her but here is a thread I previously posted about my betta with a deformity:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...1&st=&p=&#entry

z.

 

[Synirr]

Looks like that "notched" deformity is pretty common in a lot of species

How about a few human freakshows to spice things up?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Alot of things can cause deformitys in fry and i have studied this area of fish keeping alot as i am doing a project into improving the imune systems of guppys so i encounter deformitys every now and then- things that can cause deformitys are bad genetics from inbreeding, sudden temperature changes during fish's pregnancy or malnourishment, various deseases like fish TB, stress during fish's pregnancy and other enviromental factors like strong meds during fish's pregnancy and eggs and other chemicals in the water etc etc.
Most common ones i have seen are kinks in the body like fatter on one side than the other/spinal curvature and deformed tails. If you have a fish that has a deformity it is wise not to breed from it as it will only increase the chances of the fry getting the same or similar deformitys and a vast majority of fish that have deformitys, depending on what they are, often suffer health problems particualy if its genetic. Genetic swimbladder disorder for example is completely untreatable for example.
Guppys have terrible genes today from all the inbreeding they have been put through to produce all the pretty colors and tail types and this has seriously affected their imune systems, birthing problems, fry survival rates and life expectancys. I would say delta guppys are the most inbred fish you can get, i do feel sorry for them. Angels also seem to suffer genetic deformitys alot, i have even seen an angel with no tail what so ever.

 

[memnon]

i feel sorry for those poor fish.