Wild Oscar

[Fishy Smell]

I've also bought this guy recently, I had to have him because I've not seen this colour pattern on an Oscar (for sale anyway) before and the blurry pic doesn't do him justice. I'll try and buddy him up with my larger one when he's big enough. Anyway, the only ones I've seen with this colour pattern ( in books and online) are wild caught. Would that be the case, or could he be tank bred. The store are a chain type and didn't really know.


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[Brookster123]

Looks amazing!! Get him on some good food and he'll blow up like a pumpkin

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[Fishy Smell]

Yeah, the patterning on him is great, and I wanted a darker one to contrast with the red Oscar. Will be feeding prawns, cichlid gold, new life spectrum, tetra colour and a few other random protein foods.


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[PB_Smith]

Nice patterns on the fins, but overall it is just a Tiger Oscar and 99% certain tank raised as they are very easy to breed in captivity and the cost of acquiring a wild caught one would far exceed the cost of tank bred, if they are even being collected in the wild any longer, of which I have my doubts simply based on the monetary differences between wild caught and tank bred.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Ok thanks for the reply. I suppose the price should have given it away, about 10 bucks in my money!
Was curious anyway.


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[Aliray]

very pretty Oscar. love the coloring... Alison

 

[Freakgecko91]

Nice patterns on the fins, but overall it is just a Tiger Oscar and 99% certain tank raised as they are very easy to breed in captivity and the cost of acquiring a wild caught one would far exceed the cost of tank bred, if they are even being collected in the wild any longer, of which I have my doubts simply based on the monetary differences between wild caught and tank bred.

Yes, wild caught oscars are still imported. Jeff Rapps with Tangled up in cichlids usually has them. However, they won't be found in a chain store


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[PB_Smith]

Yes, wild caught oscars are still imported. Jeff Rapps with Tangled up in cichlids usually has them. However, they won't be found in a chain store


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Interesting, but I can't fathom why when they are so easily bred in captivity, why continue to deplete wild stock.
Personally I think it is unethical.

 

[Gillie]

Wild blood is still best for out crossings to keep lines strong and it is really only unethical when done with less widespread species like the zebra pleco

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[Andy Sager]

Another factor to consider is that not all wild Oscars are coming from S. America anymore. We have a nice collection of wild ones in South Florida. Many canals are teaming with them. We even had a failed program, way back when, to try to help eradicate them from the canals. As I said, it didn't work. So I can only assume that if they are as prolific in S.A. as they are in S. FL, the wild populations are indeed safe. Habitat destruction will be their biggest concern.
As for the OP's fish, keep in mind that Red Tiger Oscars don;t get the red in full until they have gained some size. I can't tell for sure what the size is of the fish in the pic but it does look small to me. Even the wild ones have a red ring around the eye spot at the rear. This fish seems to not have that yet either which is another sign to me that it may be too young to say for sure it's type. Just sayin'

Hope this helps.

 

[Brookster123]

Another factor to consider is that not all wild Oscars are coming from S. America anymore. We have a nice collection of wild ones in South Florida. Many canals are teaming with them. We even had a failed program, way back when, to try to help eradicate them from the canals. As I said, it didn't work. So I can only assume that if they are as prolific in S.A. as they are in S. FL, the wild populations are indeed safe. Habitat destruction will be their biggest concern.
As for the OP's fish, keep in mind that Red Tiger Oscars don;t get the red in full until they have gained some size. I can't tell for sure what the size is of the fish in the pic but it does look small to me. Even the wild ones have a red ring around the eye spot at the rear. This fish seems to not have that yet either which is another sign to me that it may be too young to say for sure it's type. Just sayin'

Hope this helps.

So by "program" you are referring to that summer you swam around with a snorkel and a spear?! Oh Andy. You and your stories

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[Fishy Smell]

Thanks for the replies, some great info there. It's a little under 2" at the moment, there were some others in the tank a bit bigger with the same colouring, but he was the coolest looking so I went for him. The picture doesn't do him justice, he's a real beauty, black with silvery grey patterns. In with lots of other juvies at the mo, I'm creating more long term space for them when I move house.
I've read about the Florida story, must be great for anyone living there to potentially go and catch your own pet! Having been there quite a few times, I certainly know it's hot enough in Florida. Coming from the UK, stepping outside Orlando airport initially is like stepping into an oven!


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[Gillie]

There is a chance that it is a wild fish from Peru they don't get much red on them

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[Fishy Smell]

Yeah, I think that's him. Whether the supplier have tank bred from some wild stock, I don't know but it's certainly an interesting one. I've been to a lot of aquatic shops over the past few years and some very good ones, and also been to a uk importer of rapps and similar from the states and never seen these before. You can see why it was one of those 'must have one' moments...!


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[Gillie]

I would definitely say wild or from willd Peruvian stock. Red tiger and albino oscars are the most widely farmed, their color is ok, but I really like the Peruvian.

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[Fishy Smell]

Yes, there is something cool about that look. Once grown I'm hoping that he/she will go with my red Oscar, could be a really cool combination in my 130G (unless I get an even larger tank in the meantime which is quite probable)!


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[Jmunroe]

Yes you can get oscars from the wild as said. I picked one up last year. He was 1.5 inches when I got him and is now 12 inches in 11 months. More aggressive than farm raised, or any farm raised I've ever had in the the last 25 years.
He is mine last year at 1.5-2 inches

And at 5-6 inches

And recently at almost 12 inches

He is an Orbicularis ocellatus not astronotus. Oscar that are living in the wild in Florida are not consider wild oscars, but are feral, meaning they are the product of farm raised oscars being released into the wild. Tigers, lutinos, reds ect that people have let go or escaped from farms over the years and now are breeding in the wilds of Florida or other similar warm areas.

 

[Andy Sager]

I do need to correct my comment as I did forget about the newer areas where Oscars are now being imported from. Newer areas of the Amazon have been opened up since I was importing from there so it is possible to have different colored Oscars that are wild. ( Sorry for jumping the gun on this )
That being said, the "feral" Oscars I am talking about were already established in South Florida when I moved there in 1974. These were not Red Tigers or Reds or from the new areas but they were from the original wild strains that were imported from the Amazon ( mainly Venezuela I believe) back in the 1950s & 60s. Some were deliberately placed in the canal systems as well as the ones that were released by hobbyists. My collectors, however, brought me wild colored A. Ocellatus, no red color except by the eye spot. Considering that I had just moved and left behind 13 breeding pairs of Oscars including Reds, Red Tigers and Wilds, I knew the difference between the wilds and the man made ones. Albinos/ lutinos , longfins et al, didn't even exist in the trade in Florida, if at all, back then. What's out there now is anyone's guess. I just know I have customers still wanting certain fishing lures I used to make to specifically catch the Oscars in the FL canals.

I agree and will also advise the OP that, as Jmunroe stated, wild forms of Oscars will be more aggressive in nature than the other color forms. Since these other fish are mostly tank reared fish, their natural instincts for wild survival have been diminished to a point. They also may not get along with your other colors unless they are raised together. They also may grow to be a larger fish, depending on where they originated from, than the colored varieties when fully grown. I know of a very old pair of wild ones in the late 60s that measured 22" & 24". These were exceptionally large for the specie but my Mentor, whose fish these were, had industry people verify their size. He had raised them from small fish so they got the best of care and reached that size. Most of my pairs were in the 14"-18" size. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Oh dear, don't think I could cope with anything that big, but we'll see !!

Actually, I've noticed in the past couple of days that he's pretty feisty with some of the other fish. My 9" red in the other tank is pretty easy going in comparison despite being a lot bigger than his tank mates. Maybe it's because he doesn't see the tank mates as competition.

This little guy has had one or two pretty savage swipes at a couple of the other fish, and that's just when I've been watching, although it does tend to be a feeding time. He's typically greedy!


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[Andy Sager]

Oh dear, don't think I could cope with anything that big, but we'll see !!

Actually, I've noticed in the past couple of days that he's pretty feisty with some of the other fish. My 9" red in the other tank is pretty easy going in comparison despite being a lot bigger than his tank mates. Maybe it's because he doesn't see the tank mates as competition.

This little guy has had one or two pretty savage swipes at a couple of the other fish, and that's just when I've been watching, although it does tend to be a feeding time. He's typically greedy!

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That's an Oscar for ya.