Why Do Pearl Gouramis Click?

[BeckyCats]

Anyone with experience hearing pearl gouramis click? I have heard mine click twice now. I'm pretty sure once was from stress but tonight I heard it again shortly after I dropped in a few algae tablets, and there is nothing stressful that I can determine. Water quality tests are all good, no new tank mates, nothing new at all. Can they click for non-stress reasons? Could it have been over the algae tablets? The entire tank loves them. If not, I will need help figuring out what is wrong.

Thanks!

 

[NickAu]

Bettas do it also, I think its a form of communication, if you ever want to hear clicking try Clown Loaches, First time I heard corys squeak I had my hand in the tank and almost soiled my pants.

 

[BeckyCats]

Bettas do it also, I think its a form of communication, if you ever want to hear clicking try Clown Loaches, First time I heard corys squeak I had my hand in the tank and almost soiled my pants.

 

 

[Goggy]

My dad wouldn't believe me when i said my clown loaches were making clicking noises
I even dragged him to the fishtank and he just denied the fact that the noise was coming from the fish

 

[NickAu]

My dad wouldn't believe me when i said my clown loaches were making clicking noises
I even dragged him to the fishtank and he just denied the fact that the noise was coming from the fish

I hand feed my Clown Loaches, When ever I put my hand in the tank they think its feeding time and click like crazy, they click when they are content.

 

[Goggy]

I hand feed my Clown Loaches, When ever I put my hand in the tank they think its feeding time and click like crazy, they click when they are content.
 
 
 

 
Do you get like, scraped or something? cause y'know they have spines on their cheeks?

 

[NickAu]

I did once, I made the mistake of closing my hand before putting it in the tank, and a loach thought there might be food in there tried to squeeze in, Never did that again, 
 
These are my guys, they are begging for food.
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE6p9KqzmVM

 

[Goggy]

ouch

 

[Byron]

I do not know if the clicking sounds emitted by Pearl Gourami (Trichopodus leerii) are different from those produced by the Croaking and Pygmy Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis vittata and T. pumila), but in the latter two species the males make grating or croaking sounds like a rapid series of clicks. In a 1992 study, Friedrich Ladich et.al. determined that this sound is important not only in breeding displays but also in antagonistic displays of males to establish dominance. The "croak" is a series of double pulses generated by rapid beating of the pectoral fins. Another study by Ladich in 1998 established that the sounds vary according to the individual fish and the sound frequency had a role in determining the outcome of the encounter between rival fish.  I am making an assumption, but given these fish are anabantids, I would expect this to likely apply to the Pearl.
 
The 1992 study is not available online so far as I know, but the 1998 study is, here (and it is free):
https/homepage.univie.ac.at/friedrich.ladich/Ladich%201998.pdf
 
Byron.

 

[BeckyCats]

The first time I heard it, it was a female that made the sound. I saw her do it. The second time, I have no idea who it was. I haven't found anything that acknowledges that females vocalize. Unless my fish is actually a male and just hasn't developed any male characteristics, but I haven't read that they would stunt sex development. Or maybe it is just younger than the rest. Although, I do think it is a female and that she was signalling distress from the excess Prime I accidentally dumped in the water. Why the second call was made at a different time, or who made it, is beyond me.

I read the study. Thank you Byron, for sharing it. Everything I've read online focuses on the vocalizations as being made by males for breeding or territoriality. Too bad I have to work for a living. It would be fun to just hang around watching the fish all day, taking notes, waiting for them to make noises.

 

[BeckyCats]

I know this is old but just in case anyone ever reads because they have the same question, I can say now that the gourami that made the clicking noise was in fact a male and not a female as I thought. It just hadn't developed yet when I posted the above.