The different Species
There's Astronotus orbiculatus AKA the Banded Oscar. Of the three species of oscar(aside from the common oscars), this is the second most common. It is occasionaly sen through the hobby around the size of 8 inches and has the same care requirements as common oscars.
And there's s
Astronotus crassipinnis AKA the Wild "Xingu" Oscar. Not seen in the hobby regularly, however it can be sometimes found around the 7-9'' mark.
And don't forget (ok, that may be a little hard)
Astronotus "sp. venezula". There's not much on the web about these guys, some people debate as to whether it's even a seperate species of oscars...
And of course, the one we all know and love,
Astronotus Occelatus AKA the oscar. I don't think there's much to say here.
The color morphs(of the common oscar,
Astronotus Occelatus)
Green- These seem to be less available these days due to their drab color. In fact, I have never seen one in my life. Green, or wild oscars are what you would see if you took a dive in the Amazon(and saw an oscar).
Red- These guys are black with just plain red or orange covering them. Nothing special here, although there pretty popular with many people.
Tiger- Tigers seem to be the most popular these days due to the "tiger" stripes that alot of people love. These are also fairly similar in coloration to wild oscars.
Albino- a good amount of these going around. Many times they're sold as albino tigers, having orange stripes. Some beleive these to be lutino or luesticic. You can tell the difference by the eye color. Albinos have red eyes, while lutino have normal black eyes.
Lutino- Same thing as Albinos, the only difference is the eye color.
Blueberry and Strawberry- These are not in fact color morphs but are dyed oscars. If you happen to see one, DON'T BUY IT! Dying is a cruel process and should not be practiced.
To see some cool pictures of the color morphs and varieties as well as some more information, read this:
www.oscarfishlover.com/content/view/53/120/
