Postby BillFHM3C » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:22 am
The fish could have been injured as a fry and was able to adapt to its minor deformity. If that's the case, then it's adapted quite well as it looks very healthy.
On the other hand it may be a genetic abnormality. When I raised Talapia, at HCC, I saw lots of talapia that had genetic abnormalities. Most died before maturity, but some did make it. Probably from being raised in a huge tank without predators helped. Deformities were about one in every 1000 fry, which is about normal. In the wild the ones with deformities usually get predated before any of the others. So you don't see them as much. But as the population increases, so does the number of genetic deformities.
I remember there was one talapia that was shaped like an "S" that bobbed up and down (head down) off the bottom of the tank. The other talapias didn't bother it and it grew quite large, but we didn't let it breed as we didn't want to pass on the possibily "defective" genes. Also, the deformity made it quite difficult to cook...just wouldn't lay flat the pan!
The Worst Day Fishing beats the Best Day Working HANDS DOWN!!!