Question About My Gourami

[sic0198]

I was gonna post this in the scientific forum but I didn't think it fit there, so I will ask here. I believe my Gourami is my new favorite fish. What are those antannae things on it for? And what are the called?

 

[jeej]

I was gonna post this in the scientific forum but I didn't think it fit there, so I will ask here. I believe my Gourami is my new favorite fish. What are those antannae things on it for? And what are the called?

I'm not sure. But I want to know if it is really a bad idea to house these with small Tetras? I presume they eat them or something?

 

[gourami_fan]

No idea what they are called, but I guess you can call them antennaes or whiskers. They act like arms to feel around their surroundings since in their natural habitat, they can live in quite murky waters. Some people say they also have taste receptors on it, but I can't confirm this.

They can be kept with small tetras as they won't fit in their mouths, unless you are talking about kissing gouramis and giant gouramis, which will grow pretty large and might eat the tetras.

 

[Majjie]

They're actually modified fins ... but they're usually called "feelers".
Otherwise I'd go along with what gourami_fan said: gouramis often live in murky water and the feelers are to find their way about and locate food (and friends or foes!)

 

[sic0198]

I found they are called ventral fins.

ventral fin - either of a pair of fins attached to the pelvic girdle in fishes that help control the direction of movement; correspond to hind limbs of a land vertebrate

 

[bike_riding_cichlid]

The whiskers are for feeling, my gourami uses them all over the place. As long as your tetras more of a decent size your gourami should ignore them.