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Edit Helostoma temminckii

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Name

Scientific name

Helostoma temminckii

Described by

Authority Cuvier, Year 1829

Family

Helostomatidae

Common names

Kissing Gourami

Photograph credits

All 5 credited

Summary

The kissing gourami, Helostoma temminckii, is an anabantoid from southern Indochina and the Malay Archipelago, and the sole member of its f…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

250mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 150 cm, Minimum depth 45 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 22–30°C, pH 6–8

Hardness

1–20dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Not recorded

Social needs

A shoal or group

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Borneo, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Batang Hari, Chao Phraya, Danau Sentarum, Dong Nai, Kapuas, Kerang, Mahakam, Mekong, Tapi

Writing

Etymology

Not written yet

Distribution

Described from the island of Java, Indonesia but currently accepted to occur throughout much of southern Indochina and the Malay Archipelago including Vietnam …

Habitat

This species exhibits a preference for slow-moving or standing waters including floodplain lakes, oxbows, backwaters and swamps, and is particularly associated…

Aquarium size

For long-term care an aquarium with base dimensions of at least 150 ∗ 45 cm is required.

Maintenance

Choice of décor is not as critical as water quality and the amount of open swimming-space provided, though it isn't a recommended addition to carefully arrange…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

This species is a highly-specialised, microphagous filter-feeder and possesses very fine gill rakers as well as modified structures on the gill arches to aid i…

Behaviour and compatibility

Suitable only for the larger community set-up alongside other robust fishes. Since it isn't able to predate anything larger than a few mm in length groups of a…

Sexual dimorphism

Adult females are rounder-bellied than males when full of eggs but otherwise there are no confirmed external differences.

Reproduction

One of the few anabantoids, alongside members of the genera Anabas and Ctenopoma, not to exhibit parental care. In nature it spawns at the onset of the rainy s…

Notes

The pinkish-white form of this species is among the most widely-traded aquarium fishes in the world but does not occur naturally and is in fact a leucistic var…

References

References

8 on this profile