Tropical Waters - Red Blood Parrot Cichlid and Others Exhibit

Why in heaven's name do aquaria give houseroom to these malformed hybrids? There are so many beautiful and fascinating wild species of cichlids (not to mention species from other families). Parrot cichlids are ugly monstrosities which have no place in serious collections (in my opinion of course). BTW the other fishes are one of the Metynnis species, sometimes called silver dollars.

I have often wondered this my self GL when space is so valuble and finite in zoo's do they keep some species that you can find in a lot of pet/aquarist shops.

The three species listed on the sign for this exhibit are:
Red Blood Parrot Cichlid
Silver Dollar
Striped Raphael Catfish

This room of aquatic exhibits contains a fairly standard roster of mostly freshwater species of fish so it does not surprise me to see some commonly available hybrids such as these; also, they are generally not geographically grouped in tanks and this one is a good example. The exhibits in the newly-opened OdySea Aquarium, next to Butterfly Wonderland in the same complex, has a more impressive set of exhibits and species and I will post photos and a list of species or review once a forum and gallery are created for it.