Odd tail on neon

EDIT WITH UPDATE:
I just wanted to update on this incase anyone else has a fish like this one. Its been over 20 days since I bought these fish and there has been no change at all in the tail so it looks like this is indeed a mutant. She has grown heaps and looks amazing, swimming perfectly, but still has that odd tail.


Hello I have a little neon that I added a few days ago and I noticed right away that one of the ten I added looks different then the others. I am assuming that she had some tail nipping going on but its growing in a bit strangely, Most neons have the forked tail and this guy has some tattered bits but also has tail fin growing in the middle of the fork. Has anyone seen one of these tails before? Will it ever get back to its normal shape?










I think the bottom is the best, sorry about the quality its ridiculously hard to get these guys to pose and super hard to keep the ONE your trying to take a picture of in sight. That tattered tail does nothing to slow this guy down. Maybe the "paddle" shape gives her an edge haha.

 

Due to excessive breeding, the gene pool for neons isn't diverse enough so a lot of them end up with deformities. By the looks of it, it is either as a result of severe tail nipping or its just a deformed tail. It's not as rare as you'd think too. Many Neon Tetras can end up with major deformities of the tail and back. Hope the little guy is able to swim properly. Good luck

 

Eek, I hadn't even thought of a deformity do to inbreeding. But this little one is indeed able to swim very well, when I feed she is very zippy which is good because they are new to the tank so I am feeding so little that there isn't any left over for slowpokes.

Even if it is a lifetime issue for her at least she can keep up. Have been establishing a pecking order and she can dish it out. Thought she may have gotten bitten due to her being very assertive, little one knows what she wants and will readily take on the others. I really like her outgoing fishy face, called her Tatter Tail.

Thank you for your help! I'll cross my fingers and hope it was nipping and the tail will normalise, she did come from a tank with heaps of Neons, some bigger tetras I think they were black skirt and a few Serpae so nipping is a possibility.

 

There is a longfin mutation for Neon Tetras that is sold in stores on occasion. It may have a gene for longfins. I noticed that the analfin also looks somewhat elongated, which would also be attributable to this variety.

The claims of inbreeding in Neons are generally untrue. The numbers involved in producing them commercially are often larger populations than their natural schools in the wild.

 

Oh well that sounds better haha but I guess long fin and such varieties all come from mutants, thank you for taking a look at her. I will keep my eyes on her and see how the tail looks in a week or two. How long would it take to start to grow in if it was nipping? I have seen no change in it yet but I have no idea when regrowth would be expected.