The kissing gourami has been a popular fish for many years mainly due to its kissing motion produced by the mouth.
Marble kissing gourami.
This name was given to the fish because they make natural mouth movements during courtship games during aggression as well as during feeding.
The kissing gourami gets its name from the way it will kiss other gouramis and other fish in your tank.
They can grow up to 12 inches in size so they need a large aquarium minimum 75 gallons.
Kissing gourami helostoma temminkii these fish get their name because of their kissing behavior but it s still not known why they display this behavior.
It is commonly cultivated in the southern indochina region as a food fish.
Its colored in a light bluish tone that s topped with a darker marble like patterning and thus it is also known as the marbled gourami.
The kissing motion is also a method of grazing on algae from objects.
Today virtually all specimens sold in the united states are commercially bred in florida.
So why was this kind named as kissing gourami.
The kissing gourami can get quite large often 10 12 inches in length.
They are not kissing but they are in fact acting aggressive and having a showdown.
The kissing motion when carried out between two fish is actually a fighting motion where the weaker fish should give in.
This gourami is one of many varieties of the three spot gourami.
Helostoma temminckii marble metallic paradise gourami lrg.
Trichogaster microlepis moonlight gourami med.
Macropodus opercularis moonlight gourami lrg.
The cultivated varieties lack such points and they are the marble gurami light blue with a darker variegation and the golden one.
The kissing gourami is capable of growing up to 30cm 12 in length.
The wild brown greenish coloration and the ornamental pinkish pearl coloration.
Helostoma temminckii marble marble kissing gourami reg.
Kissing gourami helostoma temminckii isn t a very bright colored fish but it has a very interesting behavior.
The fish comes in two colorations.
They stand in front of each other and swim slowly for some period of time and then for a short time their mouths meet.
They are practically the only fish capable of freeing an aquarium of hydra.
When they do this it means that one is trying to establish dominance over the other.
The pattern is dynamic and variable making this pretty fish an appealing addition to a community aquarium.
Kissing gourami is especially liked by aquarists.
Among the representatives of this subspecies there are fish of yellow pink as well as a greenish hue.
As the kissing gourami grows to a large size a large tank of at least 70 80gal.
The popular kissing gourami commonly called a kisser originates from the indonesian island of java and is also found in borneo cambodia malaysia thailand and vietnam.
Kissing balloon mutations have also been produced as well helostoma.
