Croaking Gourami

About

The croaking gourami (Trichopsis vittata) is named for something genuinely unusual: it can produce audible sounds using a specialized pectoral-fin mechanism found nowhere else in the family Osphronemidae. Modified tendons and muscles act like plucked strings, and both males and females use these croaks during territorial disputes and courtship. Research suggests the fish actually use acoustic and visual signals to assess each other's size before committing to a fight. A surprisingly sophisticated way to avoid injury. Native to slow-moving, heavily vegetated waters across Thailand, Vietnam, and islands including Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, this species is at home in flooded fields and weedy shallows throughout the Mekong basin. It is the largest of the Trichopsis species and can be distinguished by three dark lateral stripes along the body and a dark spot above the pectoral fin, though wild populations show some variation. In the aquarium it is generally peaceful outside of breeding, and can be kept as a pair or a small group where the behavioral interactions become fascinating to watch. Spawning follows the bubble-nest pattern typical of its relatives, with the female, unusually among fishes, initiating spawning through her own purring vocalizations. A reasonably forgiving species for a keeper with some labyrinth fish experience.