Martin, you will surely report what is going on. Many Parosphromenus-males become darkish when they are in breeding mood or standing in their cave. But females normally tend to become light in that mood, the longitudinal stripes fade and the body appears light brown or even yellowish. But as you have observed correctly, the female fins – normally without any colours and transparent – become a little coloured, different according to the species. Often there are brownish or blackish tinges or even reddish markings in the fins. Very different to this normal colouration things happen in the female P. paludicola from the location Wakaf Tapei: they become darker during courtship and spawning. A strange thing that may indicate even a species diversity.
By the way, I have never seen a licorice gourami jumping. I know that some people tell this (including our master-breeder Günter Kopic), so one has to take it serious. But I have never observed it. Normally the water surface isn’t existing for them. Only during bubble nest building (what is done by filamentosusrather excessively, but by many other species very carelessly) the males swim repeatedly to the surface to fetch air.
The
PAROSPHROMENUS PROJECT
