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The oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) is a species of fish from the cichlid family known under a variety of common names, including tiger oscar, velvet cichlid, and marble cichlid. [2] In tropical South America, where the species naturally resides, A. ocellatus specimens are often found for sale as a food fish in the local markets.
Astronotus is a genus of South American fish from the family Cichlidae.There are two commonly recognized species in the genus (listed below), though genetic evidence suggests that additional species exist; several of these possibly distinct populations also have very different juvenile coloration from the two recognized species.
Oscars grow at a rate approximately 1.5-3cm per month - around an inch - until they reach about about 20cm (8inch). Within the Cichlid family (the family the Oscar is in) there are hardly any varieties that match this rate of growth. Even speaking of freshwater fish in general, they are undoubtedly among the fastest growers.
Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some species of shark such as the sawshark. Barbels house the taste buds of such fish and are used to search for food in murky water. The word barbel comes from Latin barbula 'little beard'. [1]
Unlike humans, fish have little or nothing in the way of a tongue, and those that have such an organ do not use it for tasting, but merely for cushioning the mouth and manipulating things within it. The papillae of the fish, and the taste buds found on them, are therefore located on the interior or exterior surfaces of the mouth. [ 2 ]
The type II taste bud cells make up about another third of the cells in the taste bud and express G-protein coupled receptors that are associated with chemoreception. They usually express either type 1 or type 2 taste receptors, but one cell might detect different stimuli, such as umami and sweetness. [5]
The ability to taste PTC is often treated as a dominant genetic trait, although inheritance and expression of this trait are somewhat more complex. [2] [3] PTC also inhibits melanogenesis and is used to grow transparent fish. [4]
Astronotus crassipinnis is a South American fish in the cichlid family from the southern Amazon basin and the Paraná–Paraguay basins. [1] It is not as well-known or common in the aquarium trade as its relative, the more northernly distributed oscar (A. ocellatus). [2] A. crassipinnis reaches up to 25 cm (10 in) in length. [1]