The chocolate gourami (''Sphaerichthys osphromenoides'') is a 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

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. Chocolate gouramis reach a length of . These fish have a chocolate colour with golden bands running down their bodies.

Taxonomy

Sphaerichthys selatanensis ''Sphaerichthys selatanensis'', sometimes known as the crossband chocolate gourami, is a species of gourami. It is native to Asia, where it occurs in the Kalimantan region of Borneo in Indonesia. The species reaches 4 cm (1.6 inches) in Fish meas ...

'' has sometimes been treated as a subspecies of ''S. osphromenoides''.

Ecology

They are restricted to

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

habitats. Unlike many other

labyrinth fish The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or ...

, which breed by incubating their eggs in a

bubble nest Bubble nests, also called foam nests, are created by some fish and frog species as floating masses of bubbles blown with an oral secretion, saliva bubbles, and occasionally aquatic plants. Fish that build and guard bubble nests are known as aph ...

, this species is a

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

. Even more unusually, this species is a maternal mouthbrooder, with the female incubating the eggs in her mouth; all other anabantoid mouthbrooders (with the exception of its close relative ''Sphaerichthys selatanensis'') are paternal mouthbrooders, with the male carrying the eggs and young larvae. They are

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

, but feed primarily on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

In the aquarium

They are popular

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

fish, but are challenging to keep. Without optimum water conditions, they are susceptible to bacterial infections and skin parasites. Chocolate gouramis are best kept on their own in well-planted aquaria with gentle filtration. They require soft, acidic water; most of all, they prefer a higher temperature than most fish. Tank temperature should be maintained at 25–27 °C (77–81 °F). They are generally fussy eaters, preferring to eat live foods or freeze-dried, frozen equivalents over

flake food Aquarium fish feed is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macronutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:gourami, chocolate Luciocephalinae Fish of Malaysia Fish of Indonesia Fish of Southeast Asia chocolate gourami chocolate gourami