Discus (Symphysodon sp.)
Potong Pasir, 7th March 2012
This dead discus, a South American cichlid native to the Amazon Basin, was seen at the foot of an apartment block by Alvin Lim, who took a photo and shared it on Instagram.
There was no water nearby, and my guess is that this was not an abandoned pet. It’s possible that this was a case of a fish jumping out of a tank placed close to a window, only to end up falling all the way to the foot of the block. Alternatively, the fish could have died in the aquarium, only to be dumped out of the window instead of being tossed into the trash or flushed down the toilet bowl.
It is also possible that this discus fish had been released into a nearby canal or pond, only to get snatched and subsequently dropped by a piscivorous bird like a kingfisher, heron, or raptor. We probably won’t know for sure.
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The vast majority of discus seen in aquariums are captive-bred varieties that have undergone intensive artificial selection for distinctive colours and patterns. The taxonomy of discus in the wild is still unclear, but most traditional references list 2 species; consequently, the nomenclature regarding domestic varieties (some of which might be hybrids between discus belonging to different populations or even species) also requires further clarification.
- Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine: Discus Wars: How Many Species Are There?
- Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine: Son of Tarzoo
- Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine: More Discus: Three or Two (Or Even One)?
- Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine: Why So Few Discus Species and How Did They Arise?
- FishChannel: Revision of the Genus Symphysodon
- FishChannel: Asian Discus Fish
- FishChannel: Cichlids of the Americas – Wild Discus
- FishChannel: Discus Fish History
- Patterns of diversification in the discus fishes (Symphysodon spp. Cichlidae) of the Amazon basin
- A Molecular Perspective on Systematics, Taxonomy and Classification Amazonian Discus Fishes of the Genus Symphysodon
- Genetic characterization of Amazonian discus fishes of the genus Symphysodon based on microsatellite markers: implications for systematics and classification
- Candidate Species for Florida Aquaculture: Discus Symphysodon spp., a Profitable but Challenging Species for Florida Aquaculture
- AquariumDomain
Most of the Discus seen in the ornamental fish trade originate from one or more of the colour forms typically classified under the Blue Discus (Symphysodon aequifasciatus):
