Dwarf Gourami

• GeneralThe male builds a bubble nest out of saliva and scraps of plant matter.
• The male guards the nest alone, driving off even the female once the eggs are laid.
• It can live in water so short of oxygen that no other fish would survive, because it breathes air at the surface.
• Releases by aquarists have established it in rivers in the United States, Colombia and Singapore.
• It breathes air with a labyrinth organ beside its gills, which lets it live in water where the dissolved oxygen falls below what other fish can tolerate.
• The male builds a floating nest of mucus-coated bubbles and defends it alone, along with the eggs and the larvae.
• Its pelvic fins are modified into two long filaments that it uses as feelers.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)

Habitat and environment

Rice fields, canals and slow backwaters

Litter / clutch size

About 600 eggs in the bubble nest

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Trichogaster lalius