Teleostei (teleosts) >
Anabantiformes (Gouramies, snakeheads) >
Osphronemidae (Gouramies) > Macropodusinae
Etymology: Macropodus: Greek, makros = great + Greek, pous, podos = foot (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: P Specht was a German aquarist based in the French port of Le Havre, who received the first known specimens and donated examples to the author and to the BMNH. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; pelagic; pH range: 6.5 - 7.8; dH range: ? - 20. Tropical; 20°C - 26°C (Ref. 13371)
Asia: Viet Nam.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 42924)
Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 15; Dorsal soft rays (total): 4 - 9; Anal spines: 17; Anal soft rays: 11 - 14; Vertebrae: 28 - 30. Differs from its congeners by the following combination of characters: caudal fin forked; opercular spot pale or missing; body without dark bars or with 4-12 faint and inconspicuous dark bars on pale brown to dark greyish background in preserved and live specimens; top of head and predorsal body without dark spots or saddle-like blotches; posterior tip or margin of scales on head and body conspicuously darker than scales; distal part of first soft pelvic-fin ray red in life; spots and bars on dorsal and caudal-fin membranes black; posterior dorsal-fin membranes and caudal-fin membranes blue in life; filamentous caudal-fin rays with white or black posterior extremity (Ref. 42924).
Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Found in all kinds of hill stream habitats and along diverse structured margins or backwaters of large rivers, as well as in small streams and irrigation channels on farmland (Ref. 42924).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Eggs are deposited in bubble nests (Ref. 41595).
Freyhof, J. and F. Herder, 2002. Review of the paradise fishes of the genus Macropodus in Vietnam, with description of two species from Vietnam and southern China (Perciformes: Osphronemidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 13(2):147-167. (Ref. 42924)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5020 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01738 (0.00683 - 0.04423), b=2.97 (2.75 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).