The elephant ear gourami (''Osphronemus exodon'') is a large species of

gourami Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of freshwater anabantiform fishes that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of ...

native to the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Distribution and habitat

In the wild, the elephant ear gourami is found in the

river basin of

, and

. It is only known for certain from the middle part of the basin, from Kampong Cham Province (central Cambodia) to Sainyabuli Province (northern Laos).Poulsen, A.F., and Valbo-Jørgensen, J. (2000). Fish Migrations and Spawning Habits in the Mekong Mainstream - A Survey using Local Knowledge. AMFC Technical Report. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The closely related

giant gourami The giant gourami (''Osphronemus goramy'') is a species of large gourami native to freshwater habitats in Southeast Asia. It has also been introduced elsewhere. The species is commercially important as a food fish and is also farmed. It can be fou ...

(''O. goramy'') has been reported from the same section, but these records are likely misidentifications of elephant ear gouramis.Rainboth, W.J. (1996). Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong, p. 218. FAO, United Nations. .Roberts, T.R. (1994). Osphronemus exodon, a new species of giant gourami with extraordinary dentition from the Mekong. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 42(1): 67–77 In contrast, reports of elephant ear gouramis from the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...

are possibly misidentifications of giant gouramis. The only section of the Mekong basin where the giant gourami likely occurs naturally are in the southernmost part, like tributaries originating in the northern

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains ( km, ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ, ; th, ทิวเขาบรรทัด, ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range ...

. During the wet season, elephant ear gouramis are found in

flooded forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...

s and floodplains. During the dry season, they are found in permanent bodies of water, like the Mekong mainstream. Their seasonal movements are triggered by water levels.

Description

Adults can grow up to . Like other species of the genus ''

Osphronemus ''Osphronemus'' is a genus of large gouramis, the only genus within the subfamily Osphroneminae. These fish are known as the giant gouramis and are native to rivers, lakes, pools, swamps and floodplains in Southeast Asia, with ''O. exodon'' fro ...

'', juveniles and adults of this species have physical differences. Juveniles have 6 or 7 vertical stripes and a spot on the back, which fades as they get older. A red orange stripe appears around the bottom of the head when a juvenile grows up to about around . Adults are pale on its fins and blackish on its body.

Conservation

Elephant ear gouramis are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Dams in the

disrupted the wet and dry season cycle which lowered the population of this species.

Reproduction

Adults reproduce in non flowing waters. They build nests with leaves and roots then one parent guards the nest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:gourami, ear, elephant elephant ear gourami Taxa named by Tyson R. Roberts elephant ear gourami