Why Do Flowerhorns Grow Nuchal Humps (Big Heads)

Why do fish grow nuchal humps? I use scientific evidence and research to explain this phenomenon.
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References:
1. Lecaudey, L.A., Sturmbauer, C., Singh, P. et al. Molecular mechanisms underlying nuchal hump formation in dolphin cichlid, Cyrtocara moorii. Sci Rep 9, 20296 (2019). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56...
2. Takahashi, Tetsumi. "Function of nuchal humps of a cichlid fish from Lake Tanganyika: inferences from morphological data." Ichthyological Research 65, no. 3 (2018): 316-323 link.springer.com/article/10....
3. Jonas, R. E. E., and E. Bilinski. "Ketone bodies in the blood of salmonoid fishes." Journal of the Fisheries Board of Canada 22, no. 4 (1965): 891-898. www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/...

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Do you agree with me? What do YOU think is the real reason fish grow nuchal humps?

[@abird2309]

I agree

[@luster5497]

"Testosterone".

[@putnamehereholdmadoodle]

Roids

[@kishor5389]

"Oh hello there" XD It's nice that you use scientific evidence for your Vids 👌I spent about 5 hours researching and writing details for both my Tetras videos each and I even did experiments on my theories, so I really appreciate that you took the time to make this 😊

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Hahaha thanks for appreciating it. This whole vid took me... days from start to end.

[@kingkanth123]

I think they store some kind of fats which will be used later to survive in scenarios like lack of food for long time. I hope this must be a suitable answer🤞

[@supremecrackerr4687]

Very interesting video! Well made and as always a blast to watch! Are you planning to tour any new shops or buy any fish once Phase 2 kicks in this friday? I've been waiting for this day for so long!

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Definitely want to some tours again but maybe not so soon. Not sure if we would be able to out withiut mask in the near future but i feel like speaking through a mask would make the audio pretty bad. As for buying fish, i wanted to change the stocking of my 20 gal aquarium when i was changing it to a paludarium but since there was no livestock i just transferred my current stock over. And now its too late to change cause i think its impossible to catch out the fish without destroying the scape. But yes i totally relate to the feeling of livestock being avalaibke and being abke to visit aquariums. Been so long!!

[@mountainviews5025]

We subscribed thumbs up my new friends love the channel thanks for sharing with us Thumbs up again

[@joyeuph]

As a molecular biologist, I approve of this video and subscribed!

[@terronloh8738]

Interesting! Never thought of the reason behind nuchal humps.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Nor did I, until several non-fishkeepers asked me haha

[@terronloh8738]

╮(╯▽╰)╭

[@janicetan3874]

I've always thought it's a way to store energy. I'm guessing that in times where there's less food or something they sort of have some energy reserves to at least take from to wait out that period

[@robertthayer9022]

Ultra sound n Love making.

[@cuteaquarium8456]

👍 rationally explained 🙂

[@leolion4347]

Great video thank again

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Leo

[@aparnasclassesicse1067]

How big is your tank in which you have kept your turtle

[@Rohan-wt7mm]

How big is your tank in which you keep your turtle

[@Nemesis0513]

I like keeping flowerhorns that have a more arrow-shaped body, is that wrong?

[@lucasgreen3111]

do flowerhorns go well with blood parrots?

[@lagthical9867]

I recently got gifted a few flowerhorn fries lets see their nuchal humo growth😂

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Feed em well

[@StigPrice]

Cichlids are mouth brooders. The female will suck up the fry, lip locking is not the best idea when you've a mouth full of fry so the male will fight, which requires more size and more energy. Hence larger nuchal humps,

[@jasseinoppus7678]

Hey there, is there already a part 2 of this video??

[@luster5497]

There's a second copy.....

[@GoonsackSteve]

Hey SG, im in a bit of a pickle. How do you go about feeding your flowerhorn / fish while preventing the turtle eating more then its supposed to? My turtle is only meant to eat once every day or so and I've now got a flowerhorn which according to online says it needs to be fed twice a day. Please help and cheers

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

I use a combination of three strategies: 1. I only feed the fish, never the turtle. So the turtle only gets to leach off the fish food. 2. I choose the smallest pellet/food size for the fish. This makes it very hard for the turtle to get a lot of food because it needs to take many bites and keep swallong. Whereas fish are much more efficient at sucking up all the bits continuiusly. 3. I find the happy medium between the two. So my turtle is getting fed a little more than optimal and my flowerhorn is getting fed a little less than optimal. But neither are too far off optimal and both are acceptable.

[@GoonsackSteve]

@@SGBeardedAquarist good news! After 3 days of my Flowerhorn not eating and my turtle eating all his food, he finally ate around 6 pellets. Really happy as i was getting worried the Flowerhorn was going to starve. What do you feed your fish / turtle? Just normal fish food (flakes)

[@wah118]

Fish grow lumps on their heads to impress the ladies!

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thats what I initially thought too 😂

[@theexperiment247]

food resources

[@billyfolseakabbafolse6555]

They are like antlers on deer for reproduction purposes like a bird of paradise

[@tylerlarsen6189]

guess 1. its a gland guess 2 big brain

[@nantamilan5346]

Love from TAMIL NADU BRO❤

[@theexperiment247]

me too bro

[@renlr5094]

They should be renamed camel fish.

[@abird2309]

Oh I fought that it was hard and heavy for the fish and used it to ram each other on the head during mating seasons and once one of them was badly engerd they would run away and the one with the bigger head would have a better chance but I was wrong thanks for correcting me

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

I think cichlids may use their humps in fights. Just not the reason they grew one.

[@abird2309]

@@SGBeardedAquarist I think you are one to something

[@Rohan-wt7mm]

Oh nice facts

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Rohan

[@mountainviews5025]

I think that the hump might be for a very large storage of a pure oxygen and it probably last a long time maybe days I would be so amazed if I could be correct lol I haven't looked at any other comments or anything else thumbs up ya'll

[@platinumchillheart3044]

3:39 what fish is that expart?

[@platinumchillheart3044]

@Inferno 32 nice

[@denisy6]

Could i keep a FH in a 35 gallon for life?

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

I think 35 is pushing it. The FH will live in there for sure but idk if there are any downsides like stunted growth or gill folds. What are the exact measurements?

[@denisy6]

@@SGBeardedAquarist i was affraid you would say so, but i agree that if its not good for the fish i am better off :( , But they are so darn beatiful! T The tank is 32.5 L x 15.75 W x 15.35 H in

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

It sounds... ok to me. But depends on the flowerhorn really. Some get up to 12-14 inches so thats gonna be too small. But many seem to max out around 10

[@johnmichaelmacabante989]

I always think they are just fish that hit there head in the tank

[@debarghyabanerjee8685]

Sign of Dominance

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

I used to think so too and even after my theory, this still might hold true to some extent

[@animeaddictdude6109]

Why do so many people like to keep flowerhorn as a aquarium fish? I don't find those fish good to look at.

[@myaccounthasbeenhack5829]

Do peocock bass have hump ?

[@kishor5389]

Yep some species do

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Yeap, some species.

[@davesiu680]

in flowerhorn world their humps doesnt serve any essential purposes. they are mainly selectively bred for aesthetic. you cant really compare them to cichlids that exsist in the wild. if you look at todays flowerhorn types, most of their humps "kok" are 1/3 of their body size, which some of them can even barely swim up right. For cichlids that exsist in nature their hump are to display dominace and health, which leads to attract females and they will never be as big or as round as flowerhorn you see in the market today.

[@DariaCircus]

aight I'm assuming the hump is for some sort of mating purpose, attracting females etc. Edit: huh I guess I got a part of the hypothesis correct. I imagine it would have several purposes, I'm guessing that mating and battle mechanics would be the main ones.

[@daynaquincy-lowery7743]

Males gave bigger ones because males do most of the work caring for the fry so the fat is stored for them the most

[@aaronchen5855]

Camel also have

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

LOL

[@flowerhorn3]

Cause they want to be adopted by humans?

[@johnsilver9055]

My guess to why fish grow nucal hump is diet, dominance, and attracting mates

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

That was my original thought!

[@fishland4725]

All my cichlids don't have nuchal humps

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

What species are they?

[@fishland4725]

@@SGBeardedAquarist i do not remember.

[@playerratedr401]

its like a male lion mane....male fish grow the hump

[@ethanhobbs7278]

Huh. So mr fishy WAS a male fish. Good to know.

[@syscia-121atharvaghanekar7]

To attract females ?

[@deepmalik9756]

To store fat may be

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Good guess and that is probably true. Now gotta go one step further and guess why haha

[@mathansaquaworld6515]

They store Fat so that they could consume the fat and live when they don’t get food...

[@puterinazif1124]

So its a fat..i thought its contain brain in it haha

[@rishonjr1215]

To Store extra Fat

[@mrnobody1550]

My oscars dont grow humps

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Yeah not all cichlids grow nuchal humps and oscars are one of them.

[@TheRuturaj001]

To me sexual selection (attractive to females) and dominance (appear intimidating to other males) makes more sense. Nuchal hump is sexual dimorphism to start with, most of the action happens because of systematic water retention. In Midas cichlids, hump grows in ideal breeding condition, progresses to be maximum size to occur at pair formation and when paired hump recedes, sometimes as fast as day, so I don't think it gives fish any advantage as energy reserve. In one study, when groups of male midas were kept without females in large tanks they developed enormous nuchal humps that persisted. I don't think it's a mechanical advantage but more like looking scary. Composition of Hump in African cichlids is slightly different than American cichlids, and more of permanent compared to American cichlids. My references digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=ichthynicar www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016648075901367 Two research papers I couldn't get as they lack public access are (but looked at abstract) 1. Does sexual selection account for the conspicuous head dimorphism in the Midas cichlid? 2. Hormonal control of the nuchal hump in the cichlid fish Cichlasoma citrinellum

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts thoroughly. I guess we can never say for sure the real reason.

[@TheRuturaj001]

@@SGBeardedAquarist I spent some time talking with vet as well yesterday, he also think it's unlikely to be used as energy reserve. Most large cichlids (the ones without hump) survive months without food so I don't think they would rely on hump.