After my one platy kicked the bucket Saturday night, the remaining platy was acting kind of lonely, so I decided to get another fish Monday after work. I wrote earlier about some really cool-looking fish at the pet store - fish with polka dots and stripes and heart-shaped marks. So I went to that store (yes, yes, the same one that sold me the overpriced heater that DID NOT WORK), and it turns out that the neat looking fish are called "Tattoo Mollies". Folks, I swear it NEVER CROSSED MY MIND that these fish might actually be TATTOOED. I swear, I thought it was just the name of the fish. Maybe they are called that because the markings LOOK like tattoos.
So! I got Miss Molly home, got her (or him, as the case may be; I forgot to ask) settled into the tank, and (s)he seems to be doing fine, and the platy also seems calmer with another fish in the tank.
And I went on line this morning to see if I could find some good pictures of tattoo mollies, because the ones I took myself last night didn't turn out so hot. And I discovered the Great Tattoo Molly Controversy, because it turns out THE FISH ARE ACTUALLY TATTOOED. I shit you not, over in Thailand (land of the strange and the highly illegal), they take regular mollies, sedate them (supposedly), and TATTOO stuff on their sides. And of course, the animal rights people are all up in arms over this, and vowing to boycott pet stores that sell tattoo mollies, and oh holy god now I feel like an ax murderer because I bought a damn fish.
So here's the fish in question. It's the white one in the center of the picture, with the orange polka dots and the (oh holy shit I swear I did not know) TATTOOED blue heart on her side. Now that I think about it, it looks like those polka dots might be tattooed on as well. (I plead ignorance!) You can see the orange platy behind her. They are actually about the same size; the molly looks bigger because of the camera angle.
Oh Miss Molly, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that by purchasing you, I was supporting the fish-tattooing industry in Thailand. Please forgive me.
(P.S. - In case you checked the date on this post and are thinking this is all an elaborate April Fool's joke - I WISH.)
3 comments:
I was thinking "yeah, right," April Fool until I googled it.
Yeah, this year the joke's on me.
Unbelievable - I've never heard of such a thing! Don't blame yourself though!!
Had you known, you wouldn't have bought her, would you? No intention there - no guilt!!
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