Luciocephalus pulcher

Luciocephalus pulcher
Luciocephalus pulcher
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Osphronemidae
Subfamily: Luciocephalinae
Genus: Luciocephalus
Species: L. pulcher
Binomial name
Luciocephalus pulcher
(J. E. Gray, 1830)
Synonyms
  • Diplopterus pulcher J. E. Gray, 1830

Luciocephalus pulcher, the pikehead, is a species of gourami native to the Malaya Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It inhabits flooded forests, streams, and peat swamps living in areas with plentiful vegetation. It is a predator and lurks for its prey among plants near the water's surface. As the prey is swallowed, the jaw extends to about one-third of the head length. the extended jaw is folded back into place. It is a mouthbrooder. It is a yellowish-brown color with dark brown longitudinal bands and stripes. This species can reach a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade,[1] where it is notoriously difficult to keep; they require extremely soft, acidic water and seldom eat non living foods.

References

  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Luciocephalus pulcher" in FishBase. February 2014 version.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.