Balloon rams

[Stav'sBetta]

I was in one of the fish stores near me today, and they had a tank of what were labelled, "Balloon Rams". They were more rounded than your standard, run-of-the-mill ram, and had longer fins, of which most of the specimens were missing parts.

Are these selectively bred, or do they exist in the wild? It seems unusual for a cichlid to require longer fins, but I could be wrong.

 

[sylvia]

They are selectively bred or from random mutations just like long-finned danios or balloon mollies

As for a cichlid requiring longer fins - it could be something developed to attract a mate, make the fish look larger or more threatening to rivals, aid camouflage (like with angelfish) or help to navigate (like the modified ventrals in a gourami). There are plenty of reasons why a cichlid might have longer fins - however, they don't apply in this case as long-finned balloon rams don't normaly occur in the wild.