Oscar

Astronotus ocellatus · The oscar is a cichlid fish native to the Amazon River basin and other river systems across northern South America.

Also called Tiger oscar, Velvet cichlid, Marble cichlid, Oscar cichlid.

Oscar
Photo: Jón Helgi Jónsson (Amything), CC BY-SA 3.0
Oscar
Photo: George Chernilevsky, Public domain
Oscar
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderCichliformes
FamilyCichlidae
GenusAstronotus
SpeciesAstronotus ocellatus

Where it lives

Slow rivers and floodplain lakes of the Amazon basin and French Guiana.

Fun facts

  • Oscars can grow up to about 70 cm (28 in) long and weigh as much as 9 kilograms (20 lb).
  • When hunting, oscars sometimes play dead by lying on their side, mimicking death to fool other fish.
  • A large female oscar can lay roughly 2,500 to 3,000 eggs in a single spawning.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).