The
Paradise fish was the first exotic species (leaving the goldfish aside)
of ornamental fish that reached Europe. This was back in 1869. Wild
collected specimens are hardly ever available. We now could import wild
caughts of that fantastic aquarium fish from China via Hongkong.
The
black throat with white spots that is shown by displaying males is very
remarkable. The fish are comparatively small (about 6 cm), but very
attractive, despite the fact that the fins are by far not as large as it
is normal in our aquarium strains.
However,
it must be kept in mind that the fish currently come from the winter
pause in their home country. Most probably these “large fins” (this is
what the word “Macropodus” means translated) will become much larger in
body and will develop much larger fins during the summer months.
The
chronicler – avowed victim of Paradise fish since early days of
childhood – could not withstand and picked up a pair. What he saw when
the fish started spawning was unbelievable and never reported in that
intensity in the almost 150 years that M. opercularis is kept and bred
in aquaria: the female developed a breeding coloration! It became light
cream all over the body and two dark stripes over the front back;
between the dark stripes was a bight light blaze. Sensational!
For our customers: the animals have code 426043 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
