Sphaerichthys

The giant chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys acrostoma, is a small gourami known only from the Mentaya River drainage in Indonesian Borneo. It is far from common in the hobby and is traded under several other names, including 'sharp-nosed gourami'. Its colour pattern sets it apart from the other members of the genus. A paternal mouthbrooder, it chiefly inhabits peat swamps and associated black water streams.

The chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides, is a small gourami from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. By far the best known member of the genus, it mostly inhabits peat swamps and black water streams where the pH can drop to 3.0 or 4.0. A maternal mouthbrooder, it is slow-moving and easily outcompeted for food by more boisterous tankmates.

The crossband chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys selatanensis, is a small labyrinth fish from southern Borneo, Indonesia. It probably inhabits peat swamps and associated black water streams, and is only occasionally seen in the hobby, sometimes sold as 'cherry chocolate gourami'. Originally described as a subspecies of S. osphromenoides, it differs in fin-ray counts and an additional light vertical bar on each flank.

Vaillant's chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys vaillanti, is a labyrinth fish that appears to be endemic to the Kapuas drainage in Indonesian Borneo. It is also traded as the 'samurai gourami', a misleading name since the fish is neither especially combative nor from Japan. Unlike S. osphromenoides and S. selatanensis it is a paternal mouthbrooder, and females carry alternating red and green vertical bars.