Types Of Honey Gourami

[noodles]

I am a fan of honey gourami's and used to have a nice breeding triplet of them, but they unfortunately all got wiped out by some bacterial infection.

But now my new larger tank is up and running I am considering get some again. But looking in my LFS there are now various types of honey's for sale.

The ones I had before were definitely pure honey gourami's but now I am seeing golden honey gourami's, and dwarf honey gourami's, red honey gourami's among others. Now I could assume that they were just bad naming, or slight colour variations, but these other newer ones seem to be a fair bit smaller than the honey gourami's that I used to have and the honeys in the LFS.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[sylvia]

All the 'honey' color morphs are exactly the same species (Colisa chuna/sota). Size differences are down to age mainly. Though some of the newer morphs are also less healthy and reach a smaller size (as a result of inbreeding without thought for size/health).

Having said that, some LFSs incorrectly label young thick-lipped gouramies of the red color morph as honeys - they grow considerably larger though and look quite different so you should be able to tell them apart. Similarly, many LFS call certain dwarf (Colisa lalia) gourami color morphs names that might include 'honey'.

For example, the name 'honey dwarf' is given to both honeys and a dwarf color morph interchangeably.

There are also honey X dwarf hybrids out there but they aren't very common (I don't know where you live - though you spell 'colour' with a 'u' so... but I've only ever seen them in the US - here in the UK, I don't think they ever show up in LFSs). They are pretty difficult to identify until they reach maturity.

 

[noodles]

All the 'honey' color morphs are exactly the same species (Colisa chuna/sota). Size differences are down to age mainly. Though some of the newer morphs are also less healthy and reach a smaller size (as a result of inbreeding without thought for size/health).

Having said that, some LFSs incorrectly label young thick-lipped gouramies of the red color morph as honeys - they grow considerably larger though and look quite different so you should be able to tell them apart. Similarly, many LFS call certain dwarf (Colisa lalia) gourami color morphs names that might include 'honey'.

For example, the name 'honey dwarf' is given to both honeys and a dwarf color morph interchangeably.

There are also honey X dwarf hybrids out there but they aren't very common (I don't know where you live - though you spell 'colour' with a 'u' so... but I've only ever seen them in the US - here in the UK, I don't think they ever show up in LFSs). They are pretty difficult to identify until they reach maturity.

Thanks for the reply sylvia - very informative indeed! I am indeed in the UK and I think I have seen the red thick lipped and dwarf gourami's labelled very 'interestingly' so that is half of the confusion sorted out!

Why anyone would want to try to colour morph a full colour breeding male honey gourami is beyond me but nevermind!! Think I will steer away from the tiny 'golden honey gourami's' i have seen in my LFS and stick with the bigger but still jeuvenille natural honeys. In my experience even natural honey's can be somewhat delicate.

Actually looking at another thread on here with sunset dwarf's in it, these are the fish I am seeing as labelled as golden or yellow honey gourami's. Do the males colour up at all? http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=180980

 

[sylvia]

They are not 'sunset dwarfs' they are 'sunset honeys' - just another honey color morph . The brighter yellow male you see in those pics is in breeding condition. So he's fully colored up. However, some will get the black-blue ventral coloration that the natural ones do - it depends on the exact variety.

BTW, by 'color morph' I just mean 'variety' - they are natural in every sense, just not the same as the 'wild-color' variety. It's like having a black or white cat instead of a tabby

I live in the Uk as well and I haven't seen many of that color around. If you like the look of them, go for it. I think they are one of the prettier ones. Having said that, if you have the option of wild-type honeys, I still think those are the most beautiful.

 

[noodles]

They are not 'sunset dwarfs' they are 'sunset honeys' - just another honey color morph . The brighter yellow male you see in those pics is in breeding condition. So he's fully colored up. However, some will get the black-blue ventral coloration that the natural ones do - it depends on the exact variety.

BTW, by 'color morph' I just mean 'variety' - they are natural in every sense, just not the same as the 'wild-color' variety. It's like having a black or white cat instead of a tabby

I live in the Uk as well and I haven't seen many of that color around. If you like the look of them, go for it. I think they are one of the prettier ones. Having said that, if you have the option of wild-type honeys, I still think those are the most beautiful.

thanks sylvia, I understand what you mean by colour morphs, but I guess by selective colour breeding as in pedigree dogs and cats then they are more likely to be inbred and weaker. There do seem to be lots around where i live in berks/surrey/hants borders. Every LFS has them from time to time.

Well if I do decide to get some sort of honey I will let you know!

 

[noodles]

Popped into my LFS today to have a look at the honey choices, and there were even more!!!! Made me laugh!

5 tanks full all with the following labels, some stray fish in different labelled tanks too!

Honey Gourami
Red Honey Gourami (not a honey gourami)
Yellow honey Gourami
Sunset Yellow honey gourami
Sunset dwarf honey gourami (not a honey gourami)
And a lone sparkling gourami!

All looked lovely though and pretty reasonably priced.