Dwarfism in Cory Catfish?

Hi, everyone,

Just posting about something I'm curious about. I breed my peppered cories and sell them locally. I decided to keep one particular fry because she hasn't grown... since she's been about 4 weeks old. She's currently almost 5 months old and is still very small. She's completely functional and doesn't get picked on, though I have a 2 month old fry who is twice her size (that one is a monster and not the usual).

I don't think it's an inbreeding issue, because none of the fry I've kept are old enough to breed yet. She had 3 other surviving siblings (I don't raise many at a time due to space) who were all healthy and robust and who I sold in a heartbeat. I just don't think the catfish, who I aptly named "Lil Baby," will ever grow more. Has anyone else seen this before? Thanks!

 

What exactly did you feed it ?

 

Hi, I had a duplicareus years ago that didn’t grow, all it’s siblings were perfectly normal, if I remember right it only lived about a year sadly.

Edit: forgot to say in all the fry I’ve had over the years that was the only one that was like that.

 

First bites, crushed up shrimp pellets, and then full shrimp pellets, respectively as their mouths got bigger. She never got outcompeted by her siblings for food, though she did hatch 3 days later than them. She's always loved food and is a good eater.

 

In my Aeneus batch I had one smaller fish but that more had a balloon shape.

A shortened spine as defect.

This one looks okay but small / thin

 

Thanks. I'm just going to take care of it as long as it lasts. It's a happy little bean right now and seems to be in a safe environment for its condition.

 

Growth hormone deficiency may occur in any species I believe.