Licorice Gourami

About

Found in the freshwater peat swamps and associated streams of Borneo, Parosphromenus allani belongs to a group of diminutive labyrinth fishes that hobbyists sometimes call licorice gouramis or simply 'paros.' Like all members of the suborder Anabantoidei, it possesses a labyrinth organ that allows it to breathe atmospheric air to some degree, though it surfaces for air less frequently than many of its relatives. This is a genuinely tiny fish, topping out well under an inch and a half, and it carries some taxonomic baggage. Its original description was published in a hobbyist magazine and the full formal account was never completed, leaving some uncertainty about population variation, particularly around fish from the Lundu area that show differences in fin coloration. In the aquarium, P. allani is best kept alone or with very small, non-assertive cyprinids like Boraras. Mixing different Parosphromenus species is a bad idea since females are hard to tell apart and hybridization is a real risk. Breeding follows the typical cave-spawning pattern of the genus, with the male performing dramatic head-down, fins-splayed courtship displays before tending the eggs solo while the female guards the surrounding territory. This species rarely appears in the commercial trade and is almost exclusively passed between private enthusiasts, which is worth keeping in mind before you go looking for it.