Description
Typical of gourami, the body is deep and strongly compressed laterally. The long-based dorsal (16–18 spinous rays, 13–16 soft) and anal fins (13–15 spinous rays, 17–19 soft) mirror each other in length and frame the body. The posterior most soft rays of each of these fins are slightly elongated to create a trailing margin. The foremost rays of the jugular pelvic fins are also slightly elongated. The pectoral fins are large, rounded, and low-slung. The caudal fin is rounded to concave. The lateral line is divided in two, with the posterior portion starting below the end of the other; there are a total of 43–48 scales running the line's length.
The most distinctive feature of the kissing gourami is its mouth. Other than being terminal rather than superior (as in other gourami families), the kissing gourami's mouth is highly protrusible as its family name suggests, the lips are lined with horny teeth. However, teeth are absent from the premaxilla, dentaries, palatine, and pharynx. The gill rakers are also well-developed and numerous. The visible scales of the body are ctenoid, whereas the scales of the top of the head are cycloid. Kissing gourami reach a maximum size of 30 centimetres (12 in) TL. There is no outward sexual dimorphism and is difficult to almost impossible to distinguish the sexes.
There are two colour morphs encountered: greens, which have lengthwise lateral stripes and opaque, dark brown fins; and pink, which have a rose to orangy pink body and silvery scales, with transparent pinkish fins. Green fish originate from Thailand while pink fish origiante from Java. There is also a "dwarf" or "balloon pink" variety, which is a mutated strain of the pink gourami that are offered to hobbyists. The "balloons" are named so for their smaller and rounder bodies.
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