Paradise Fish

The fork-tailed paradisefish, or paradise gourami, is a species of pelagic, long-finned freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Osphronemidae, found in most freshwaters of East Asia ranging from eastern China down to northern Vietnam. This anabantiform fish can reach a standard length of 6.7 cm, though most are only about 5.5 cm . Paradise fish were the second Chinese ornamental fish introduced to the West after the Goldfish, and the first freshwater tropical fish successfully bred in captivity in Europe, having been imported 1869 to France by the French aquarium fish importer Pierre Carbonnier in Paris. The paradise fish is one of the more aggressive members of its family. It is more aggressive than the three spot gourami, yet less pugnacious in nature than the less commonly kept combtail.