Why Do Flowerhorns Grow Nuchal Humps (Big Heads) 

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

"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 😊

Interesting! Never thought of the reason behind nuchal humps.

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🤞

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

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!

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

food resources

Ultra sound n Love making.

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

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

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

How big is your tank in which you keep your turtle

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

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

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

They should be renamed camel fish.

do flowerhorns go well with blood parrots?

Fish grow lumps on their heads to impress the ladies!

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

👍 rationally explained 🙂

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

Love from TAMIL NADU BRO❤

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,

3:39 what fish is that expart?

Great video thank again

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

guess 1. its a gland guess 2 big brain

Do peocock bass have hump ?

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

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.

Sign of Dominance

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

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

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

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.

Oh nice facts

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

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

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

All my cichlids don't have nuchal humps

Camel also have

Cause they want to be adopted by humans?

To store fat may be

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

My oscars dont grow humps

To Store extra Fat

To attract females ?

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