Gourami Samurai - SPHAERICHTHYS VAILLANTI

INFORMATION:

Classification:

Order: perciformes

Family: Osphronemidae

Distribution and habitat:

The type locality is the village of Nangah Sebroeang, which is located south of Danau Sentarum National Park within the upper Kapuas River basin, West Kalimantan Province (Kalimantan Barat) in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

It appears to be endemic to the Kapuas drainage, where it has also been recorded in the Danau Sentarum lake system itself, as well as downstream near the town of Sintang.

It is thought to primarily inhabit peat bogs and associated blackwater streams, although it can also be found in some clearwater habitats. The former are located in forested areas and contain water that is usually stained dark brown due to humic acids and other chemicals released by decomposing organic matter.

Its size is:

45 – 55mm.

Its form is:

The sexes can be difficult to differentiate when newly imported or not in good condition, although females always possess a uniformly straight lower jaw profile and generally a more acuminate head shape than males.

In the latter, the lower jaw is slightly rounded due to the presence of distensible skin that expands during mouth brooding.

However, once fully acclimatized, this species exhibits spectacular inverted sexual dimorphism, with the female adopting a red and green pattern that intensifies further during courtship/spawning, while the males remain brown.

Parameters required:

The temperature should range between 21 and 25ºC

PH: 3.5 and 6.5

Feeding:

Primarily a micropredator that feeds on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae, and other zooplankton. He can be a bit finicky in the aquarium and may not initially accept dried or otherwise prepared foods, although in many cases he will learn to take them over time.

In any case, daily meals of small live or frozen foods, such as Artemia nauplii, Daphnia, grindal worm, micro worm, etc., should be offered to develop ideal color and conditioning.

Behavior:

Tank mates should be chosen carefully, as this species is slow moving and will easily be intimidated or overtaken by larger or boisterous tank mates. Pelagic and peaceful cyprinids such as Trigonostigma or the smaller Rasbora species are good options, as are some loaches such as Pangio or Kottelatlimia spp.

Although it is not gregarious in the sense of schools of fish, it does seem to require interaction with its conspecifics and shows more interesting behavior when maintained in numbers, meaning that we recommend purchasing no less than 6 individuals.

Groups develop notable hierarchies and you will often see dominant individuals chasing away their rivals at mealtimes or when they occupy their favorite spot. According to observations, maintaining their numbers also seems to favor the formation of breeding pairs.