Sunset Thicklip Gourami

Sunset Thicklip Gouramis are a colorful variant of the Thicklip Gourami Colisa labiosa (also known as Trichogaster labiosa in some references). They have silver heads with light fading to dark red posteriors. Females are wider body and are slightly less colorful. As with any other variant, color may vary slightly from the fish pictured here.

Gouramis and other Anabantids (including the ever-popular Bettas and Siamese Fighting Fish) have an internal organ called the labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe atmospheric air in addition to using their gills. This is an adaptation to the rice paddies and stagnant pools in which these fish often live. All gouramis also have specialized pelvic fins that look like long filaments that they use to sense their surroundings.

Gouramis, like bettas, are bubble nest breeders. The males build floating nests out of bubbles that the eggs are deposited into until they hatch and develop into free-swimming fry. Breeding is fairly simple. Males and females can be differentiated by colors in many cases (males being more colorful) and male fish develop a dorsal fin that is elongated and ends in a point while females stay short and rounded.