The term painted fish refers to ornamental aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 which have been artificially coloured to appeal to consumers. This artificial colouring, also known as juicing, is achieved by a number of methods, such as injecting

Injection (medicine)

An injection is an infusion method of putting fluid into the body, usually with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin to a sufficient depth for the material to be forced into the body...

 the fish with a hypodermic syringe

Syringe

A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...

 containing bright fluorescent colour dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

, dipping the fish into a dye solution, or feeding the fish dyed food.

This process is usually done to make the fish a brighter colour and more attractive to consumers. The colouring of the fish is not permanent, and usually fades away in six to nine months.

Methods

There are a number of methods for introducing artificial colour to fish, although specific information on methodology is sometimes scanty.

Dyes

A common method of creating "painted fish" is through injection via syringe. Generally, fish are injected multiple times. Fish may also be dipped in a caustic solution to strip their outer slime coat, then dipped in dye. This method is reported to have a very high mortality rate.

Many varieties of "colour-enhancing" foods for aquarium fishes are available to the consumer. Generally, these foods contain natural dyes such as beta carotene

Carotene

The term carotene is used for several related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but cannot be made by animals. Carotene is an orange photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis. Carotenes are all coloured to the human eye...

 and are not harmful to fish, although as with other dye methods, the effect is temporary. One source reports that harmful dyes are sometimes used by wholesalers, however.

Lasers

Fish can also be tattooed using a low-intensity laser with a dye, a process developed for fisheries by scientists but this technique is now applied to ornamental fish.

Genetic modification

Aquarium fish genetically modified to fluoresce in bright colours under white

White Light

White Light may refer to:*Light with the color white*White Light , a 1980 novel by Rudy Rucke*White Light , 1971 album*White Light , 2010 album...

 or ultraviolet light

Light

Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...

 are now available commercially in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, under the trade name GloFish

GloFish

The GloFish is a patented and trademarked brand of genetically modified fluorescent zebrafish with bright red, green, orange-yellow, blue, and purple fluorescent colors...

. The technology was developed originally to produce a fish capable of detecting environmental pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

. These zebrafish are available in several fluorescent colours, protected by a United States patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

.

Hormones

It's not introducing any kind of artificial color, but provoking the apparition of mating period tonalities by administering hormones. This is argued to be used for minimizing the stressful effects of transport in fish aspect. This might also be used for making females of certain fish species look more colorful, despite this can also render them infertile.

Varieties

Some species, such as albino Corydoras

Corydoras

Members of the South American Corydoras genus are freshwater temperate and tropical catfish in the armored catfish family , and are commonly referred to as corydorases, cories, or cory catfish.-Taxonomy:...

 and "painted" glassfish, are injected with dye using a hypodermic needle

Hypodermic needle

A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...

. In more recent times (2004-2005), injection dyed albino Plecostomus

Plecostomus

Hypostomus plecostomus is the scientific name for a type of freshwater tropical Central and South American fish belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are large algae eaters, and to differentiate them from small algae eaters, they are often referred to as plecostomus, often abbreviated as...

 and rift lake cichlids have also become available. Other than the Indian Glassy Fish, most dyed fish are albinos.

Some commonly painted species

• Indian Glassy Fish
  Indian glassy fish
  The Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga, is a species of freshwater fish in the Asiatic glassfish family of order Perciformes. It is native to an area of south Asia from Pakistan to Malaysia....
  
   (Parambassis ranga). Tradename: Painted glassfish; Disco Fish; Colored Glass Tetra; Lightbulb tetra.
• Black tetra
  Black tetra
  The black tetra also known as the black skirt tetra, high-fin black skirt tetra or black widow tetra is a freshwater fish...
  
   (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi). Tradenames: Berry Tetra; Painted Tetra.
• Oscar (Astronautus ocellatus). Tradenames: Blueberry Oscar; Strawberry Oscar.
• Corydoras
  Corydoras
  Members of the South American Corydoras genus are freshwater temperate and tropical catfish in the armored catfish family , and are commonly referred to as corydorases, cories, or cory catfish.-Taxonomy:...
  
  species
• African Rift Lake cichlid
  Cichlid
  Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...
  
  s, such as Pseudotropheus. Tradenames: Ice Blue Albino Cichlid; Zebra Ice Albino Cichlid.
• Suckermouth catfish
  Plecostomus
  Hypostomus plecostomus is the scientific name for a type of freshwater tropical Central and South American fish belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are large algae eaters, and to differentiate them from small algae eaters, they are often referred to as plecostomus, often abbreviated as...
  
   (Hypostomus plecostomus). Tradenames: Patriotic Suckerfish; Mixed Color Suckerfish.
• Blood parrot cichlid (Amphiliphus citrinellus x Heros severus). Tradenames: Jellybean Cichlid; Cotton Candy Cichlid.
• Goldfish
  Goldfish
  The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
  
   (Carassius auratus). Tradenames: Jellybeans; Icepops.

Health hazards to painted fish

A 1998 survey carried out in the South of England revealed that over 40% of painted glassfish

Indian glassy fish

The Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga, is a species of freshwater fish in the Asiatic glassfish family of order Perciformes. It is native to an area of south Asia from Pakistan to Malaysia....

 showed signs of a Lymphocystis

Lymphocystis

Lymphocystis is a common viral disease of freshwater and saltwater fish.Aquarists often come across this virus when their fish are stressed such as when put into a new environment and the virus is able to grow....

infection, compared to 10% of unpainted glassfish. The infection may have been caused by transmitting the virus from fish to fish via an infected needle, or by a reduced resistance to the infection due to stress from the injection process. In addition, fishes injected with dye often die without apparent external disease symptoms, presumably due to kidney disease caused by injection.

Efforts to stop fish painting

Some members of the aquarium trade want to ban this practice. For example, the British publication Practical Fishkeeping

Practical Fishkeeping

Practical Fishkeeping is the United Kingdom's best-selling aquarium magazine. It is published every four weeks by Bauer...

started a campaign in 1996 to ask retailers to stop selling dyed fish, which led to a significant decrease in the number sold in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Practical Fishkeeping has launched a similar campaign with a global scope and maintains a register of stores which do not stock dyed fish. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...

 (RSPCA) regards the practice as cruel and unnecessary cosmetic mutilation

Mutilation

Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...

. A campaign in Australia and in the UK has limited the sale of these fish. Dyed fish are still available and are generally imported from Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

.

In February 2006, the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...

(Defra) confirmed that it will not be making it illegal to sell dyed fish in the UK under the forthcoming Animal Welfare Bill.

Related Sites

• Painfully Painted Fish