Hi, I'm Lizard! I have shrimp, betta, some schooling fish, and a few types of gourami spread across 12 tanks. I love my anabantiods! Feel free to ask me questions about them, I love to show them off. See my other pets on my main blog @i-am-a-lizard
Anatomy: characterized by the presence of teeth on the parasphenoid; most species have a labyrinth organ, which is a highly folded suprabranchial accessory breathing organ that allows them to breathe atmospheric oxygen
Habitat: freshwater ephemeral habitats (swamps, floodplains, drainage ponds, rice paddies, etc) in Asia and Africa, some species introduced in North America
Evolved in: Early Eocene
Do you have a favorite in Anabantiformes?
One or more of my favorite animals is in Anabantiformes
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Voting ended onJul 30, 2025
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Many anabantiformes have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe oxygen from the air. This is because they live in ephemeral habitats, where water sometimes dries up and/or becomes poorly oxygenated. These fish can gulp air from the surface of the water, or even move across land to find better habitat.
The Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens) (image 1) is the most well-known Betta species, originally domesticated for fighting and now kept as pets worldwide. Unfortunately, their ability to breathe air and live in ephemeral habitats like marshes, floodplains, and rice paddies has led to them being categorized as an easy, low-maintenance pet that is used to living in “puddles”, and they (along with goldfish) are one of the most abused pet fish species. Uninformed Betta owners will keep them in bowls, vases, or tiny tanks without heat or filtration, with little to no enrichment. Nowadays, Betta breeders breed for quantity over quality, and the fish are farmed “puppy mill” style, leading to what should be an animal with a 10 year life expectancy being shorter-lived and prone to cancers and other health complications. And why would they breed for health, if most Bettas will die of suffocation in a bowl in a few months anyway? This is why, for any animal, it is always important to research their proper care first before getting them as a pet.
The Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus) is a climbing gourami that can live without water for 6–10 hours and move on land by crawling/wriggling its body with its pectoral fins. It is believed that this species may be invading new territories by slipping aboard fishing boats.
Kissing Gouramis (Helostoma temminckii) (see gif above) are popular aquarium fish, named because of their highly protrusible, forward-facing mouths, which are used in a ritualized display of aggression that looks, to humans, like two fish kissing each other.
The Giant Gourami (Osphronemus goramy) has been used for weed control on highly invasive aquatic plants like Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta), as the Giant Gourami can be a voracious herbivore.
The Pikehead (Luciocephalus pulcher) is a specialized ambush predator that spends most of its time lying hidden and motionless for potential prey to approach, a rare strategy for gouramis. The Pikehead is able to extend its jaw to about one-third of its body length, allowing it to successfully prey upon fishes almost half of its own length. This large, extendable mouth also has a more gentle use, as male Pikeheads are mouthbrooders.
Most Anabantiformes practice paternal care, whether the males make a floating nest or brood their eggs and young larvae in their mouths. The Chocolate Gourami (Sphaerichthys osphromenoides) is unique in that females are the ones to incubate their eggs in their mouths, instead of the males.
While many gouramis, especially males, are known for being territorial and aggressive, Dwarf Gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) have a reputation in the aquarium trade for being so docile that they will allow themselves to be bullied to death rather than fight back.
The Fork Tailed Paradisefish (Macropodus opercularis) was the second Chinese ornamental fish introduced to the West after the Goldfish (Carassius auratus), and the first freshwater tropical fish successfully bred in captivity in Europe, in 1869.
Croaking Gouramis (genus Trichopsis) have the ability to produce a distinctive croaking or clicking sound. This sound, often associated with courtship rituals or territorial disputes, is produced by the fish’s pectoral muscles.
Large and medium-sized Snakehead (genus Channa) (image 2) species are among the most common staple food fish in several Asian countries, and they are extensively farmed.
It always scares me when I trim back a lot. But it will grow. I'll probably put the plants i have in the bucket back in here now that I see it without the cloudiness.
Well, I just finished rescaping my 55! I'll give you guys my little life hack.
I have two python siphons, one with the sink attachment and one without. One was given to me, I only bought one, so ig I'm pretty fortunate there. But anyway, the one without the sink attachment I just have siphoning off my porch, so no large debris goes into my sink! I have the other one hooked up to my sink ready to refill.
I have some advice though, just a thought that popped into my head tonight. When you're done siphoning off your porch or out the window or what have you, you should put it away instead of carelessly throwing it on the ground. Because let's say, the other one, attached to the sink, is also carelessly on the ground, and when you are ready to refill the tank, you put the siphon into the tank and turn on the water. Then, you watch the tank to make sure the siphon doesn't fall out when the water flows. Now let's say, hypothetically, the water doesn't start flowing. You can hear the sink running, so maybe it's just taking longer than you thought. You wait a few more seconds. Then maybe you think there's a kink in the hose, so you turn and see your three hypothetical cats and one theoretical dog all watching as water pours onto your faux hardwood floor. So you theoretically have to rush and grab it from across the room and race it to the tank, splashing water everywhere, for a total amount of water that two large hypothetical beach towels can't soak up. Anyway, I just thought this might be bad if it happened, so we should just promise each other to be careful and prevent it from happening at all, right? In other news, I'm going to mop my floor.
It appears the leave as is has it! I am going to have to remove a lot of plants.... If anyone wants some I'll sell em $1 a stem or $5 for six stems plus shipping. If you want a lot we can talk about it as well. I can do assorted or try to pick specific plants. For now and extras are just going in a bucket lol. I don't have the heart to throw them away but no one locally seems to want them, I'm in a small town. They're not the prettiest but they are healthy.
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