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Trichopsis
pumilus
by
Brian Carson
Photo
by Bill Shenefelt
Finformation,
August
2001
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 This
is about the third time I’ve attempted to put in writing my
experience with Trichopsis pumilus. In each of the past two attempts,
both physical and mental calamities have postponed its release (I
think). What I do know is that a computer virus wiped out all articles
(both finished and unfinished) that I have written to date. What I
don’t know is if I had already released the article for publication
(my memory has become somewhat…well… just a memory). At
the risk of subjecting everyone, again, to yet another boring account
of my fish room, please read on.
The pygmy croaking gourami or pygmy gourami, Trichopsis pumilus, is
a phenomenal little gem. That being said, the pygmy croaking gourami
is extremely undemanding, as long as it is housed in an adequately
sized aquarium. The fish would probably fade away in anything larger
than a 20L. I found a 5- gallon to be more than enough. It is secretive
and will hide behind anything bigger than its 1.5” body.
Its mouth is tiny but will accept most any food including crushed
flake food. Newly hatched brine shrimp and white worms are probably
the best conditioning foods. I say probably because it is nearly impossible
to differentiate between the two sexes. The female will not get the
swollen belly that is typical of gouramis.
The only definitive way to reliably sex adults is to observe each
individual with a strong light shining from the background. With the
light passing through the animal, the swim bladder and denser viscera
is visible. In the female, the viscera will taper to point, pointing
toward the tail, and the swim bladder will ride on top. In the male,
the dense portion will appear round, and the swim bladder will fill
the void where the eggs would be (the tapered point). Outside of actual
courtship and spawning, this is the only way I was able to distinguish
the sexes. Even during a spawning sequence, I was able to locate the
male only because he was the one “maintaining” the nest.
Setting-up spawning conditions isn’t a difficult endeavor. A
2.5-gallon aquarium stuffed with spawning mops, plastic and real plants,
and a small slowly bubbling sponge filter did the trick for me. A
pair was selected out of about 8 individuals and placed into the aquarium.
After about 10 days, the pair settled into their new digs and spawned.
The nest in most cases, even with different individuals, was usually
near the bottom. Tiny bubbles would be placed in a secrete location,
always under something completely out of view. A typical anabantid
embrace would take place with the female releasing 4-8 eggs per embrace
until a total of 40-50 was reached. The male would then chase the
female away and jealously defend the nest until the fry left the nest
about four days later. For such a small character, a male pygmy gourami
defending a nest is one mean dude. The female should be removed unless
plenty of cover is available.
The fry are practically microscopic. The smallest food must be available
until the fry can eat bbs at about 10 days to 2 weeks. Green water,
filter scrounge and microworms worked for me. Even then, high losses
are usual, with about 15 – 25 individuals actually making it
to a safe size of about .5”. I’ve had success with both
removing the male and leaving him with the fry.
Lastly, aside from its subtly beautiful coloration of burgundy, blue
and cream (I won first place for anabantids under 4” in a GPASI
show with this guy), the gourami is vocal. One night while my wife
and I watched TV, we were annoyed by the infrequent calls of some
sort of sick cricket. A low-pitched, rapid clicking sound was coming
from the three 2.5 gallon aquariums we had in the living room, behind
the couch. As I painstakingly looked for the cricket to no avail,
I was left red-faced as I remembered that the pygmy gourami is also
one of the croaking gouramis. After learning what the croak sounds
like, I noticed that they usually occurred after lights-out and were
usually between two males staking claim or defending a small territory.
The females don’t seem to either be able or willing to produce
the sound. |
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