Send This Page to a Friend

All About Oscar Fish
wikipedia


Oscar Fish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Osteichthyes
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genus: Astronotus
Species: A. ocellatus

Binomial name
Astronotus ocellatus


The Oscar Fish (Astronotus ocellatus) is a large species of cichlid.
Oscars originate from the rivers in the area from Venezuela and
along the east coast of South America, down to Paraguay.
Oscar fish come in a wide variety of colors and patterns such
as Tiger, Black, Albino, Zebra, Red and Fire Red.

Oscars typically reach a maximum size of 12-13 inches. Due to their size,
they are often paired by aquarists with other of the larger New World
cichlids.

The Oscar is one of the most popular large home aquarium
cichlids.



Picture Oscar Fish





Oscars have a large body, and a slow, majestic appearance but
they can be quite devastating to their surroundings as they tend
to uproot plants and move other objects in the tank. They are
very territorial and aggressive fish that will eat anything small
enough to fit in their mouths and can quite easily be trained to
eat from their owners' hands. Oscars will frequently fight
vigorously with other Oscars which leads to much chasing and
splashing, although they typically do not hurt each other.

The usual recommendation with Oscars is to pair them only with larger
fish because they have been known to eat smaller fish that are
introduced into their territory.

An intelligent fish, if the Oscar is raised with a set of fish it
will tend to leave them alone, but will attack newly introduced fish
even if they are of a similar size and species as ones already there.





See Also:


Back To Index of All Fish Care & Fish Fun Stuff


Search Our Site