Astronotus ocellatus, Oscar : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Astronotus ocellatus (Agassiz, 1831)

Oscar
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Stamps, Coins Misc. | Google image
Image of Astronotus ocellatus (Oscar)
Astronotus ocellatus
Picture by Schüür, G.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cichliformes (Cichlids, convict blennies) > Cichlidae (Cichlids) > Astronotinae
Etymology: Astronotus: Greek, astra = ray + Greek, noton = back (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Agassiz.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 5 - 19. Tropical; 22°C - 25°C (Ref. 1672); 4°N - 15°S, 78°W - 47°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

South America: western Amazon and Orinoco basins. Introduced elsewhere.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 12.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 45.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 24.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 1.6 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17-21; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 16 - 20. Large mouth with thick lips; 7 preopercular pores; first gill arch without lobe; gill rakers short and thick with many denticles; dorsal and anal fins bases densely scaled; many branched rays; body color dark with bright orange opercle margin and ventral parts of the lateral sides of the body; often a black rounded blotch with orange margin at caudal fin base (Ref. 35237).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Preferably inhabits quiet shallow waters in mud-bottomed and sand-bottomed canals and ponds (Ref. 5723). Feeds on small fish, crayfish, worms and insect larvae. Quite popular with aquarists but not for aquaculturists because of its slow growth (Ref. 35237). Maximum length 40 cm TL (Ref. 5723). A highly esteemed food fish in South America (Ref. 44091).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

In captivity, both male and female clean a suitable spawning site - often a flat rock , or branches, or in a circular nest excavated in shallow water (Ref. 44091). Eggs (usually numbering in the thousands, Ref. 44091) are deposited and are guarded by both parents. Egg hatch in 3 or 4 days and parent move the fry to a shallow pit in the sand where they remain for 6 or 7 days (Ref. 7020).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Kullander, Sven O. | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 04 November 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: highly commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02455 (0.00939 - 0.06419), b=3.00 (2.77 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.8   ±0.32 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Assuming tm<=1; Fec=300-2000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (36 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 85.3 [39.6, 151.5] mg/100g; Iron = 1.15 [0.64, 2.32] mg/100g; Protein = 17.9 [16.4, 19.4] %; Omega3 = 0.318 [0.117, 0.926] g/100g; Selenium = 85.4 [31.6, 191.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 25.4 [6.6, 80.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.63 [1.06, 2.47] mg/100g (wet weight);