Life Sciences Commons^™

Labyrinth  fishes  of  the  families  Anabantidae,  Belontiidae,Helostomatidae,  and  Osphronemidae  comprise the  tradi-tional  anabantoids,  a  group  of  about  80  relatively  small African  and  southeast  Asian  species (Linke  1991).  Many of  the  anabantoids  are  popular  with  aquarium  hobbyists because of their interesting reproductive behaviours, with males of most species brooding eggs in their mouths or in floating bubble nests (Vevers 1980; Linke 1991; Axelrod and Vorderwinkler 1995; Mills 2000). They have also beenthe focus of several environmental, morphological, and gene-tic  investigations  (Sommer  1982;  Gosline  1985;  Waki-yama  et  al. 1997;  Frankel  1992,  2001).  The  two-spot gourami,   Trichogaster  trichopterus  trichopterus  Pallas (Osphronemidae),  is …