Oscar Fish in Natural Habitat

The oscar, originally described by Louis Agassiz in 1831, in a member of the cichlid family native to the rivers of South America. The oscar is also commonly known as the velvet cichlid, red oscar, tiger oscar and marble cichlid in addition to a number of local names in given to it by the people of South America. In areas where there is a large native oscar population, the fish are commonly sold in meat markets but they have not found popularity in the global market because of slow growth.