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Snakeskin gourami

Snakeskin gourami
Snakeskin gourami.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Osphronemidae
Subfamily: Luciocephalinae
Genus: Trichopodus
Species: T. pectoralis
Binomial name
Trichopodus pectoralis
Regan, 1910
Synonyms
  • Trichogaster pectoralis (Regan, 1910)

The snakeskin gourami (Trichopodus pectoralis) is a species of gourami native to Southeast Asia.

The snakeskin gourami is an elongated, moderately compressed fish with a small dorsal fin. Its anal fin is nearly the length of the body and the pelvic fins are long and thread-like. The back is olive in color and the flanks are greenish gray with a silver iridescence. An obvious, irregular black band extends from the snout, through the eye, and to the caudal peduncle. The underparts are white. The rear part of the body may be marked with faint transverse stripes. The fins are also gray-green, and the iris of the eye may be amber under favorable water conditions. The dorsal fins of male fish are pointed and the pelvic fins are orange to red. The males are also slimmer than the less colorful females. Juvenile snakeskin gouramis have strikingly strong zig-zag lines from the eye to the base of the tail.

This species can grow up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) TL in length though most only reach about 15 centimetres (5.9 in).

They are common in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basin of Cambodia, Thailand, Southern Vietnam, and Laos. They have also been introduced in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and New Caledonia.

Snakeskin gourami are found in rice paddies, shallow ponds, and swamps. They are found in shallow, sluggish, or standing water habitats with a lot of aquatic vegetation. It also occurs in flooded forests of the lower Mekong, and gradually moves back to rivers as floodwaters recede.


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