Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
The demand for more beautiful aquarium fish drives heavy inbreeding. Through the inbreeding the fish are less hardy. That's exactly the reason why rams are less healthy. It's also the reason why the fanciest strains of fish aren't as resilient as their more common counterparts. This is true even with guppies and bettas. If you wanted to talk to someone specifically about this then you should shoot a pm to Andy sager. He's been in the industry forever and has a lot of insight on the topic.
Yes I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of fish we keep in our aquariums are as beautiful and colourful in the wild.
I know that some species are even injected with a dye to enhance their colours. This damages the slime coat and leaves them susceptible to all sorts.
I think in the wild, you would want to be as bland as possible as not to stand out to predators?