Kissing Gourami - Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology

Shallow, slow-moving, and thickly vegetated backwaters are the kissing gourami's natural. habitat. They are midwater omnivores that primarily graze on benthic algae and aquatic plants, with insects taken from the surface. It is also a filter feeder, using their many gill rakers to supplement their diet with plankton. The fish use their toothed lips to rasp algae from stones and other surfaces. This rasping action, which (to humans) looks superficially like kissing, is also used by males to challenge the dominancy of conspecifics.

Spawning occurs from May to October in Thailand. Kissing gouramis are open-water egg scatterers; spawning is initiated by the female and takes place under cover of floating vegetation. The eggs, which the adults do not guard, are spherical, smooth, and buoyant. Initial development is rapid: the eggs hatch after one day, and the fry are free-swimming two days thereafter. The Kissing gourami does not care for its young.