I was flipping through Antons book on West African Cichlids and came across the profile on Oreochromis mossambicus. Anton states that mossambicus will only grow around 10cm in a small tank, but it does not impact their spawning or their off springs growth. He also states that if the fish are moved to larger quarters they will resume growing.
I have a few questions on this. Are the fish simply stunted, or is there some type of adaptation at play? Would it be possible to line breed a smaller fish? I'm not interested in line breeding, I'm just interested in learning whats behind mossambicus ability to stop growing. I do think it would be really cool to keep mossambicus if there were no harm in keeping them small, I love fish that reach sexual maturity fast because they are so fun to raise. I had no idea "tilapia" were such interesting fish.
The title was just to get your interest
I have a few questions on this. Are the fish simply stunted, or is there some type of adaptation at play? Would it be possible to line breed a smaller fish? I'm not interested in line breeding, I'm just interested in learning whats behind mossambicus ability to stop growing. I do think it would be really cool to keep mossambicus if there were no harm in keeping them small, I love fish that reach sexual maturity fast because they are so fun to raise. I had no idea "tilapia" were such interesting fish.
The title was just to get your interest
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