Macropodusinae
| Paradise fish | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Osphronemidae |
| Subfamily: |
Macropodusinae Hoedeman 1948 |
| Genera | |
The Macropodusinae are a subfamily of freshwater perciform fishes in the gourami family Osphronemidae. Like all members of the family, these are air breathing fishes that frequently inhabit oxygen poor environments hostile to other fishes (the licorice gouramies of Parosphromenus inhabit well-oxygenated, but extremely soft and acidic, blackwater streams). They are native to Asia, from Pakistan and India to the Malay Archipelago and north-easterly towards Korea. Many members are common aquarium fish; by far the most famous is the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (note that the domesticated form is very likely a hybrid). Most (not all) of the 70+ betta species are paternal mouthbrooders; the remaining members of the subfamily are bubblenesters like most osphronemids.
The following are some of the many species in this subfamily. Betta is by far the largest genus with over 70 species (more than the rest of the subfamily combined and easily the largest osphronemid genus), followed by Parosphromenus (which, with at least 20 species, is the next most specious osphronemid genus).
Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)
Paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis)
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Wikipedia