Osphronemidae

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Osphronemidae
Dwarf gourami (Trichogaster lalius)

Dwarf gourami
( Trichogaster lalius )

Systematics
Acanthomorphata
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Climbing fish species (Anabantiformes)
Subordination : Labyrinth fish (Anabantoidei)
Family : Osphronemidae
Scientific name
Osphronemidae
Bleeker , 1859

The Osphronemidae are the most species-rich family of labyrinth fish (Anabantoidei). In total there are over 130 species, of which over 70 belong to the genus of the fighting fish ( Betta ). All Osphronemidae live in freshwater in slow-flowing rivers, lakes, ponds and floodplains from Pakistan and India to Southeast Asia (west of the Wallace Line and not originally in the Philippines ), eastern China and Korea .

features

Most representatives are small, less than ten centimeters long, the smallest reach just two centimeters, while the largest giant gourami reaches a length of 70 centimeters. The body is elongated or oval, the head large, the lower jaw protruding. In many species, one of the fin rays of the pelvic fins is thread-like drawn out and covered with taste buds. All species have small comb scales that are very close together. The ploughshare and palatine bone are toothless, the organ of the labyrinth is strongly folded. The dorsal fin is short in most cases, while the anal fin is very long. The caudal fin is slightly rounded or forked.

Way of life

The Osphronemidae occur in stagnant or slowly flowing waters, often in heavily weed or oxygen-poor waters. They are diurnal, form small areas and feed mainly on approach food (insects or arachnids that have fallen on the surface of the water), insect larvae and small crustaceans.

Red veil fighting fish spawn under a foam nest.

Reproduction

All Osphronemidae care for the brood , most of them build a foam nest . The relatively small eggs are lighter than water (swimming eggs) and rise up into the foam nest. The mostly very colorful males or both parents of the foam nest builders take care of the eggs. The giant gouramis build a nest out of plant material and the male takes care of the brood. The majority of the fighting fish ( Betta ), the pointed head gourami ( Ctenops nobilis ), the pike heads ( Luciocephalus ) and chocolate gouramis ( Sphaerichthys ) are mouthbrooders , either the females or the males breed. Since the same reproductive strategies occur in different taxa that are not closely related to one another, they must have evolved independently several times.

Systematics

The family name was established between 1995 and 2006, replacing the name Belontiidae . Under the name Belontiidae the family contained the same genera as under the name Osphronemidae; only the genus Osphronemus was classified in its own family. In addition, the distribution in subfamilies was different. A German name for this family is not used in the literature, even if many representatives have the name component “Gurami”. A specialty is the subfamily name "Macropodusinae" (from Greek: makros (μακρ großς) = large and pus, podos (ποδός) = foot or [pelvic] fin), which should actually be called "Macropodinae", but for the family of the Kangaroos (Macropodidae) is awarded.

Honeycomb Macropod
( Belontia hasselti )

The following diagram shows the relationships within the Osphronemidae.

  Osphronemidae  


 Belontiinae


   

 Giant gouramis (Osphroneminae)



   

 Luciocephalinae


   

 Threadfish (Trichogastrinae)


   

 Macropodusinae





Osphronemus goramy
Chocolate gourami
( Sphaerichthys osphromenoides )
Mosaic Gourami ( Trichopodus leerii )
Betta albimarginata
Growling dwarf gourami ( Trichopsis pumila )

The Osphronemidae are divided into five subfamilies with 14 genera and about 135 species.

Tribal history

The fossil record of the osphronemids is extremely sparse. There is only one articulated fossil from the marl of the Sangkarewang Formation (late Eocene to early Oligocene (before 28.5 - 37 million years ago )) from Sumatra . It was assigned to the recent species Osphronemus goramy . At the time of the fossil description , O. goramy was the only Osphronemus species described. Rüber et al. but are of the opinion that it is not possible to assign the fossil to a recent crown group , since the formation of the Osphronemidae, determined with the help of the molecular clock , is suspected in this period.

use

Large species, especially the giant gouramis, serve as food fish , while small, colorful species are popular aquarium fish .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Lukas Rüber, Ralf Britz & Rafael Zardoya: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolutionary Diversification of Labyrinth Fishes (Perciformes: Anabantoidei). Syst. Biol. 55 (3): 374-397, 2006 ISSN  1063-5157 doi: 10.1080 / 10635150500541664
  2. ↑ J. Schmidt: New names for subfamilies of the Anabantoidei . In: The Macropod . No. 9/10 , 2006, ISSN  0937-177X , p. 157 ( in the online archive - summary of the scientific publications where “Britz 2005” actually means “Britz 1995”). in the online archive ( Memento of the original from September 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.igl-home.de
  3. ^ Joseph S. Nelson, Terry C. Grande, Mark VH Wilson: Fishes of the World. Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2016, ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6 , pages 392-393.

Web links

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