[Oso Polar]

Opinions?

 

[Nordic]

labiosa, Faciata has fewer bronze bands, rounder head, and speckles in tail
If I remember correctly I had one that inverted its colours to appear more blue than copper/orange.

 

[GreenAcres]

I'm curious too. I have a male that was identified to me as fasciata, and I have three labiosa females. I had a fasciata female at one point, and I honestly could not see the difference although I know they are supposed to be different species (that can reproduce together). I'd like to have the physical differences pointed out because so far I can only identify them by where they come from (and I'm not sure how useful that is anymore, as labiosa has become invasive in some locations, like Colombia).

 

[Mr. Limpet]

It's a female fasciata. The orange edged blue anal fin is a dead giveaway. Female labiosus have a lateral band comprised of blue spots & a much less indented caudal fin. Haven't seen wild type labiosus in years; just sunsets & reds.

 

[GreenAcres]

Haven't seen wild type labiosus in years; just sunsets & reds.

I just received some juveniles from an online retailer. Male was DOA (It happens -- I don't blame them and they credited me right away), but the three females were fine. Here is a picture of one I just happen to have because I've become curious as to whether it is female. That bottom fin seems a little longer than it should be. I'm brand new to labiosa, so I don't really know what to look for except for brighter colors when they are older. Maybe you can tell me something about it (including whether it was misidentified). It was identified as coming from Myanmar, which would be labiosa rather than fasciata, but I'm really quite clueless.

She's about 1.5 inches long, so still pretty small.

 

[Oso Polar]

It's a female fasciata.

Hmm, I'm 99.9% sure that this is a male. I had two of them for some time, they divided the tank in two halves and were very carefully guarding the border, displaying to each other. This behavior is typical for male gouramies of many species, I've never saw it in females - they also can fight with each other but they don't do it like this, they just run after each other, kick each other, bite etc. Also, sometimes these guys were measuring their forces by struggling with each other with their mouths (kind of like kissing gourami do).

Two more photos of the same fish.

 

[Nordic]

That second last one looks more like faciata with the shape of the snout and the large looking eye.
The stripes still look more its cousin

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I just received some juveniles from an online retailer. Male was DOA (It happens -- I don't blame them and they credited me right away), but the three females were fine. Here is a picture of one I just happen to have because I've become curious as to whether it is female. That bottom fin seems a little longer than it should be. I'm brand new to labiosa, so I don't really know what to look for except for brighter colors when they are older. Maybe you can tell me something about it (including whether it was misidentified). It was identified as coming from Myanmar, which would be labiosa rather than fasciata, but I'm really quite clueless.

She's about 1.5 inches long, so still pretty small.

The band on its side says labiosus. As to its sex I'd say female, but at 1.5 in. it still has time to surprise you & turn out to be a male.

If you don't mind my asking, which online retailer? I've been wanting to work with this species again for a long time.

 

[GreenAcres]

If you don't mind my asking, which online retailer? I've been wanting to work with this species again for a long time.

Wet Spot Tropical Fish. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to try to order another male or not, because I only have one tank going right now and don't need anything else (minimum+shipping makes it a very expensive fish). I believe the current list still has them as available. I'm very happy with them. They are very personable, though the biggest female is a bit of a bully.

 

[GreenAcres]

I thought you might like to see all three of the girls as I was able to capture them together in a rare moment (they were waiting for food). The biggest one in the middle has decided that she is the queen of the tank and should have all the food. Luckily she can't be everywhere at once. She is starting to faintly get the vertical stripes.

I ended up asking WSTF for a shipping quote for the replacement male. I am filling out the order with some mystus tengara to replace the BN plecos I just rehomed. I just really like gourami and this species seems to have a lot of personality.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

The two fish in front are definitely female wild-type labiosus; I'd say there'e an 80% chance that the one in back is also a female. I've also ordered fish from The Wet Spot, & the fish I received weren't the sex of the ones I ordered. Correct sexing isn't guaranteed by them though.

 

[GreenAcres]

I don't have the highest of expectations with sexing, and I used to keep swordtails and they could definitely surprise you when you removed a dominant male from the tank. So I know that surprises are to be expected. The DOA was definitely male though. I think they have some that show clearly male characteristics, whereas it's harder to say for sure a juvenile fish is absolutely female and not just an undeveloped male.

I really appreciate you looking these over. I think that far one is also the one the I'm kind of iffy about. If I end up with multiple males and they are scrappy, I can give my friend a pair. She'd share fry with me.

I was kind of bummed that I was going to have to make the financial investment in another male, but now I'm kind of excited about the mystus too, so it's OK.

I'd love to be updated if you order from Wet Spot and how yours do. I'm really kind of obsessed with them right now. I've always been more into wild types and now that I have only one tank, I can direct my investment more toward my preferences.

Hmm, I'm 99.9% sure that this is a male.

I do have a fasciata male, and his dorsal and anal fins kind of trail behind him because they are so long and pointy, and he is more torpedo shaped. I would also say you have a female. He is very shy since his female died, but if I can get him to emerge long enough, I will try to get a picture. As I was saying in my posts, the biggest female labiosa I got is an enormous bully and chases everything in my tank. She even got into a scrap with a large BN pleco I had over some algae wafers (he's been given to a friend now).

 

[GreenAcres]

I was finally able to get a picture of my male fasciatum. It's not a very good picture because he darts out quickly to get food and swims back to his hiding place. He has gotten very timid since losing his "mate." He has gotten over it before and gotten bolder and I'm hoping he will again, though I'm getting the sense that he's getting pretty old. In any case, you can see how his fins kind of trail.

I got my new boy today. He's very young and I'm mostly taking their word on him being male. That and he chases all the females. He's also more timid than the females and kind of lurks in the background when he's not chasing them.

Bump: Here's the new boy. My plants are a mess right now, so don't look at those (I had to take the tank apart to remove my plecos for rehoming and I'm completely redoing the plants this weekend).

 

[jaliberti]

Who has bred these, or seen a bubble-nest produced by a male? Last weekend I acquired 4 very large morphs, orange/black, definitely labiosa but perhaps a labiosa/fasciata mix. 3 males and the most gravid female I've ever seen of any fish. Added to a 40g breeder with 3 Paradise Gourami - 1 large male opercularis and 2 juvenile females (1 opercularis + 1 spechti/erythropterus).

By the next day it was obvious which male was dominant as he chased the other 3 labiosa (though this behavior was not evident in the tank from which they were purchased). The other 2 males were removed. He didn't seem to have a problem with any of the Paradise Gourami.

I woke up this morning to find floating eggs scattered throughout the entire surface area, no nest whatsoever. Male absolutely did not want the female nor any of the Paradise Gourami in there, though he made no attempt to gather eggs.

Kissing Gourami supposedly scatter eggs but several webpages state the Trichogaster/Colisa genus are bubble-nesters.

???