Miraculous Tail-less Balloon Ram!!

[lord_matthias]

8O I got a new fish for my 29gal community aquarium today, and he is the wierdest fish I think I've ever seen! About an inch long, he was swimming in a tank at the store full of other guys like him (a pretty interesting variety called "hi-fin balloon ram"). But he was different- no tail! He's basically a swimming circle like pacman, but he has no problems with mobility and seems quite normal. In fact, his movement reminds me somewhat of a hummingbird, as he hovers in one spot with his fins out, and then sort of tucks them in and "scoots" like a little bumblebee wherever he needs to go. The missing tail appears to be some bizarre genetic mutation and not the result of natural mutilation of some sort. What a cool find! A small photo of my little mutant guy is attached.

 

[greenmaji]

intresting.. JChillin should see this!

 

[Toirtis]

That is an interesting genetic abnormality (I have seen it in convicts, Luo han, and parrots before....can't say much for the breeder who should have culled him, though.

 

[greenmaji]

ok ok.. I had the same thought.. LOL

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree he should have been culled...but...not much can be done about that now. 8)

Cool looking fish, indeed. My guess is that he probably won't live as long of a life as a normal Ram.

 

[greenmaji]

my guess is that since there was a tank full of them someone has been silly enough to fix this mutation..

 

[rubysoho]

there are some breeders in goldfish who exploit this genetic mutation, it is really odd.

 

[Jchillin]

Yes...apparently this is gaining popularity as it is showing up more and more. For unknown reasons, hobbyists have been enamored with this mutation (or don't know that it is one).

 

[Meredith]

Aww! That is really cute and so sad at the same time. Poor baby!

 

[rich311k]

Aww! That is really cute and so sad at the same time. Poor baby!

I know what you mean. The fish is very cute looking, but I don't understand why someone would want to propagate a strain that makes a fish less able to fend for itself, and I in my opinion does nothing to improve or beutify that particular species.

 

[lord_matthias]

No, he was the only guy in the tank like that at the fish store. I meant there was a tank full of other balloon rams, but they were all normal. I don't really think there is any reason to pity him- like I said, he has no noticable problems, mobility related or otherwise, and since it is not the wild, he won't be at a competitive disadvantage. In fact, he appeared to be one of the dominant rams in the LFS tank, darting around and strutting his stuff, pecking at others from time to time. I don't really understand why many people have the same gut reaction that pacman should have been killed before reaching the consumer. It's not like he's hurting anything just by being alive, and if he were to propigate his genes, so what? Would it really be so bad to have a tailless strain of rams out there? Poor pac-fish, so unappreciated. hehe.

 

[Toirtis]

Would it really be so bad to have a tailless strain of rams out there?

Only slightly worse than...ugh...'balloon' rams.

 

[Rach101]

Aww..
He is kind of cute, but I wouldn't promote the breeding of such.
I wouldn't have the heart to cull any sort of fish ._.