Paradise fish

Paradise fish
Macropodus opercularis male
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anabantiformes
Family: Osphronemidae
Genus: Macropodus
Species:
M. opercularis
Binomial name
Macropodus opercularis
Synonyms
  • Labrus opercularis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Chaetodon chinensis Bloch, 1790
  • Macropodus chinensis (Bloch, 1790)
  • Macropodus viridiauratus Lacépède, 1801
  • Macropodus venustus Cuvier, 1831
  • Macropodus ctenopsoides Brind, 1915
  • Macropodus filamentosus Oshima, 1919

The fork tailed paradisefish (often just called 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 China to northern Vietnam. This species can reach a standard length of 6.7 cm (2+58 in), though most are only about 5.5 cm (2+316 in). Paradise gouramis was the second Chinese ornamental fish introduced to the West after the Goldfish, and the first freshwater tropical fish successfully bred in captivity in Europe, having been imported 1869 to France by the French aquarium fish importer Pierre Carbonnier in Paris. The paradise fish is one of the more aggressive members of its family. It is more aggressive than the three spot gourami, yet less pugnacious in nature than the less commonly kept combtail.