Photo: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chocolate gourami
Sphaerichthys osphromenoides
5 cm
Adult size
70 L
Minimum volume
6
Minimum group
5 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Sphaerichthys
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
The chocolate gourami, brown barred with golden bands, is by far the best known of its genus of four species. The male broods the eggs in his mouth. Delicate, it suits experienced hobbyists.
- Scientific name
- Sphaerichthys osphromenoides Canestrini, 1860
- Classification
- Anabantiformes › Osphronemidae
- IUCN Red List
- Data deficient (DD)
Natural habitat
Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo (Sarawak, West Kalimantan); perhaps extinct in Singapore
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives mainly in peat swamps and their blackwater streams, sometimes in clear water: brown water almost free of minerals, with a pH that can drop to 3 or 4, under a canopy so dense that light barely penetrates, over a bottom of branches and leaves. It breathes air at the surface.
Behaviour
Slow, it is intimidated or outcompeted at feeding time by larger or boisterous companions. Keep it with small, peaceful midwater cyprinids (Trigonostigma, small Rasbora) or Pangio loaches, but not with its cousin S. selatanensis (risk of hybridisation). A micropredator, sometimes fussy: small live or frozen prey, dry food being accepted only over time.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth