Hello Everyone! ID Needed

[Grant T.]

Greetings fellow Parosphromenus keepers! These gouramis are absolutely stunning and I intend to pursue breeding to encourage conservation and appreciation for these wonderful fish! Yet, my venture into Parosphromenus began with grief…

I recently acquired a small group of Paros, but unfortunately, all but one male perished. 🙁 Thus, I will be treating this male to his own aquarium where he will dwell in perfect conditions and hopefully I’ll be able to add more eventually… I’m not entirely sure why the others perished, as they had ample food, a blackwater environment, and were kept at 78F… Perhaps stress? But I digress…

If I am to breed them in the future, what I really need to know is what species I have. Here’s a video for you to examine:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59fA_Fic_BA[/video]

[Peter Finke]

Identifying Parosphromenus to species niveau affords very good pictures; such a movie is unsuitable for that purpose. One needs to see details of the finnage, not the colouration only, must be able to count the rays and to compare dimensions.
The fish is definitely not alfredi and definitely not filamentosus. It is bintan-like, but has a short filament like sumatranus. However, it is definitely not sumatranus because of totally different colouration and structure. From this movie I cannot tell you more. As it seems, it is a form neither of the hitherto scientifically described species, nor of the hitherto known undescribed other forms. One could think of a hybrid, but it was probably not bred in an aquarium but is a wild catch imported from south-east Asia. Maybe it’s stemming from Sumatra; we have quite a few new forms known from there in recent years, but it’s none of them. Maybe from Kalimantan Tengah. I should exclude West Malaysia or Sarawak. Kalimantan Timur is equally improbable, since the catchers usually don’t go there. Kalimantan Barat is perhaps possible, but improbable too. Ans these are the large regions only. We need a definite location, a town or a river system.
Therefore go to your dealer and insist that he gives you that details. Mostly they can’t or they are unwilling to to so. But he could ask his supplier in Asia. It would be interesting. In the history of the Parosphromenus aquaristics we had that situation for several times: a single fish that did not fit into the known categories.
And you should take good photographs showing clearly or species-relevant details of your fish. It’s a pity the females have died. At any rate you should keep such fish in a smaller tank for their own, leaving all those Trichopsis and Bettas out. If you can get hold of females (of this species, not of others, don’t make a hybridization-experiment!), then you must try to breed them.

[Grant T.]

Ah, I see I see. They were sold to me as wild P. Deissneri which was definitely incorrect, but I’ll pry any information I can from the dealer.

[Martin Fischer]

Hello,

is there some pale red colour in the fins? If so, the fish reminds me of a not fully coloured P. spec. from Langgam. The slightly lanceolate caudal fin would also fit.
But of course, one can never be sure…
If you take a photo and use a flashlight, the red colouration of the fins should come out a little more.

P. spec. Langgam:

Of course Peter is right, that you should only use this male for breeding, if it is possible to get females of the same species (…from the same dealer).

Greetings
Martin

[Peter Finke]

Martin, I have also seen that slightly lanceolate form of the caudal fin and it’s slightly brownish-reddish colour-tinge. The first aspect reminded me at spec. Langgam in the same way as it reminded you (although this feature seems to be variable in that species), but the second did not. The caudal of spec. Langgam is – whom to I tell that!! – brightly red and not that slightly brownish tinge only. But there is a third small thing that you don’t mention: that very short, but in some positions of the fish clearly visible filament in the middle of the end of the caudal. And I have never seen a spec. Langgam with that property. None of the wild-caught individuals Horst Linke brought home in 2008 (which I saw in original) nor any of your offspring-fish (as judged from your fine photographs) ever showed a filament like this. But I admit, it is not to be seen clearly on that movie. We need still photos in good light! Otherwise one cannot identify rare Parosphromenus.

[Grant T.]

No information to be had from the dealer… Yes, the caudal filament is what defines this curious gourami and is what separates it from many other species. I will do my best to obtain a clear photograph of the Parosphromenus in question, but its shy behavior has made doing so rather difficult…

[Martin Fischer]

Hello,

of course, Peter is right. I completely overlooked the small filament of the caudal fin, that can clearly be seen in front of a lighter background.

… so good luck for the photos!

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