fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
es in the gourami
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Osphronemidae, which includes the paradisefish, fighting fish and licorice gouramis. Like all members of the family, these are air breathing fishes that frequently inhabit oxygen poor environments hostile to other fishes (the licorice gouramies of ''Parosphromenus'' inhabit well-oxygenated, but extremely soft and acidic, blackwater streams). They are native to
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, from
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Many members are common aquarium fish; by far the most famous is the Siamese fighting fish, ''Betta splendens'' (note that the domesticated form is very likely a hybrid). Most (not all) of the 70+ betta species are paternal mouthbrooders; the remaining members of the subfamily are bubblenesters like most osphronemids.
The subfamily was originally named Macropodinae but this name was adjudged to be a
junior homonym
In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon.
The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the se ...
of the mammalian family
Macropodidae
Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and ar ...
, the
kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...
s and
wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
, and the name was changed by ICZN Opinion 2058 to Macropodusinae.
Genera
The following genera are classified within in this subfamily. ''Betta'' is by far the largest genus with over 70 species (more than the rest of the subfamily combined and easily the largest osphronemid genus), followed by ''Parosphromenus'' (which, with at least 20 species, is the next most speciose osphronemid genus).
* ''
Betta
''Betta'' is a large genus of small, active, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes, in the gourami family (biology), family (Osphronemidae). The best known ''Betta'' species is ''B. splendens,'' commonly known as the Siamese fighting fi ...
''
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Macropodus'' Lacepède, 1801
* ''
Malpulutta
The ornate paradisefish (''Malpulutta kretseri'') or spotted gourami, is a species of gourami Endemism, endemic to Sri Lanka. It is the only recognized species in its genus.
It inhabits shallow, slow-flowing streams in forested areas shaded with ...
''
Deraniyagala
Deraniyagala is a town in the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Deraniyaga city area consists major government administrative offices, textile industries and transportation hub and the district hospital which has seve ...
Trichopsis
''Trichopsis'' is a genus of gouramies native to Southeast Asia.
Species
There are currently three recognized species in this genus:
* '' Trichopsis pumila'' ( J. P. Arnold, 1936) (Pygmy gourami)
* '' Trichopsis schalleri'' Ladiges, 1962 (Three ...
''
Canestrini
Giovanni Canestrini (26 December 1835 – 14 February 1900) was an Italian naturalist and biologist and translator who was a native of Revò.
Career
He initially studied in Gorizia and Meran, then furthered his education in natural sciences at ...
, 1860
Gallery
Image:Betta albimarginata 060311 1.jpg, ''
Betta albimarginata
''Betta albimarginata'' is a species of betta fish, endemism, endemic to the island of Borneo where it is only found in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Timur. It inhabits the shallows () of forest streams amongst vegetation and debris alon ...
''
Image:Kampffisch betta splendenscele4.jpg,
Siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish (''Betta splendens''), commonly known as the betta, is a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is one of 73 species of the genus '' Bet ...
Paradise fish
The paradise fish, paradise-fish, paradisefish, or paradise gourami (''Macropodus opercularis'') is a species of gourami found in most types of fresh water in East Asia, ranging from the Korean Peninsula to northern Vietnam. This species can ...