Honey Gourami vs Dwarf Gourami

[Allivymar]

Coupla questions bout the differences between these 2.

I have 2 male dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia). Picked up a honey gourami (Colisa chuna or Colisa sota) this eve (along with some neons) and have a buncha questions:

First off, which do I have? It was listed as a honey gourami and the latin name with it was colisa sota. But I went to look up some details on them when I got home, and most of what comes up on google for honey gourami is colisa chuna. The pics match the sota tho; is there a diff? Or is it there are 2 diff names for the same fish?

I know females of the dwarf gouramis have blunter dorsal fins then the males; does the same apply for honey gouramis? The one I bought does not have the pointy bit on the end of the dorsal; its well rounded. Is it possible its a female? Its no duller in color then any of the others.

If it IS a female, would it mate with a dwarf gourami? Are the species that close?

[Terry]

Hiya Allivymar,
Have you tried this site www.aquaworld.netfirms.com

[Allivymar]

Nice site Terry - Thanx!

Still hasn't cleared up my confusion tho [acronym:00a6cd12d5="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:00a6cd12d5] The pics of the colisa chuna and one pic of the colisa lalia BOTH look like my new lil one...

[Terry]

Glad you liked the site Allivymar,

I think that they might be the same fish, it might be that 2 differant people found them at differant times so they have two names. Or it might be that they are so closely related they look the same. Or it could just be that they have changed there name since they were first found. Or hahahaha only joking cant think of any more.

[Madame_X]

I kinda wonder if they're both the same fish. I also saw trichogaster chuna/sota. when looking up "honey gourami" on Google.

Its kinda like my Bolivian Rams. I've seen them listed as microgeophagus (or mikrogeophagus) altispinosa and papiliochromis altispinosa. I guess there's been some controversy with the proper scientific name for rams.

Maybe the honey gourami has multiple names, too?

[Terry]

Allivymar will get there in the end, keep looking hahahah

I think that they are probably the same fish.

[Allivymar]

Wait [acronym:d1629facbc="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:d1629facbc] It gets more confusing [acronym:d1629facbc="Laughing out loud"]LOL[/acronym:d1629facbc]

On yet another site, I came across the Chocolate Gourami listed as the colisa sota! Could this possibly be any more muddled?? And even worse, no colisa sota is mentioned on fishbase.org. Oi.

Btw, I grabbed a pic of the new one; I'm wondering if it is a female; check out the fins. They are not pointy like the dwarf males. Wouldn't that be cool if it was?!

[Madame_X]

Here's a picture of a male and a female dwarf gourami:

http://aquariumfish.net/catalog_page...m#neonbluemale

"Her" dorsal fin does look a bit like the female on that website. Will keep my fingers crossed for you!

[Allivymar]

Ooooo! Keep your fingers crossed for me...I would be THRILLED if its a female. Course, I still need to find out if the 2 species (if they ARE 2 species) will breed...

Ack...that means I need a new home for my other dwarf gourami...guess the snails will be moving out of the 8g *sigh*

[Terry]

Allivymar,
Here is the discription of honey gourami's (Colisa Chuna) in one of my books, see what you think.

The Females and very young males are Brownish and much duller with a distinct longitudinal stripe. When excited, such as spawning time, the flanks, caudal fin, and rear parts of the dorsal and anal fins of a male will go goldern yellow.
At the same time, the head, nape,underparts, and the front part of the anal fin becomes almost black with irridescence. The ventral fins turn orange.

What i was going to say is if the gourami is quite dark from the eye back towards its tail on the underneath of the fish then i think it would be a male, instead of being dark, if it's more silvery underneath i would say a female.

We will get there in the end. [acronym:af08a607c3="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:af08a607c3]