Question: What is a Labyrinth Fish?
Answer: A labyrinth fish has a special organ called the labyrinth that allows the fish to breathe air from the surface of the water. Why does a fish need a labyrinth? Some fish live in water that is very low in oxygen. For those fish, having a labyrinth organ means the difference between survival and death.
Labyrinth Organ
When a labyrinth fish gulps air from the surface it is forced into the labyrinth organ. Within the labyrinth cavities are many small maze-like compartments of thin boney plates called lamellae. The lamellae are covered with extremely thin membranes, so thin that oxygen can pass through. Blood within the membranes absorbs the oxygen and carries it throughout the body.
If a labyrinth fish finds itself in little or even no water, it can stay alive for quite a while, as long as stays moist. In a pinch some labyrinth fish are able to crawl across land to a different body of water. One labyrinth fish, the climbing perch, can even climb trees.
Labyrinth Fish Species
There are over six dozen species of labyrinth fishes, which are part of the family called Anabantoidei. Labyrinth fish are native to Africa and Southeast Asia, residing in areas where high temperature and low water depth result in low oxygen saturation in the water.
Popular species of labyrinth fish most often found for sale in pet shops include:
Labyrinth Organ
When a labyrinth fish gulps air from the surface it is forced into the labyrinth organ. Within the labyrinth cavities are many small maze-like compartments of thin boney plates called lamellae. The lamellae are covered with extremely thin membranes, so thin that oxygen can pass through. Blood within the membranes absorbs the oxygen and carries it throughout the body.
If a labyrinth fish finds itself in little or even no water, it can stay alive for quite a while, as long as stays moist. In a pinch some labyrinth fish are able to crawl across land to a different body of water. One labyrinth fish, the climbing perch, can even climb trees.
Labyrinth Fish Species
There are over six dozen species of labyrinth fishes, which are part of the family called Anabantoidei. Labyrinth fish are native to Africa and Southeast Asia, residing in areas where high temperature and low water depth result in low oxygen saturation in the water.
Popular species of labyrinth fish most often found for sale in pet shops include:
- Betta - Betta splendens
- Blue Gourami - Trichogaster trichopterus
- Chocolate Gourami - Sphaerichthys osphormenoides
- Dwarf Gourami - Colisa lalia
- Giant Gouarmi
- Honey Gourami - Colisa chuna "Gold"
- Kissiing Gourami - Helostoma temminckii
- Moonlight Gourami - Trichogaster microlepis
- Paradish Fish
- Pearl Gourami - Trichogaster leeri
- Powder Blue Gourami - Colisa lalia
- Snakeskin Gourami
- Sunset Gourami
- Three-Spot Gourami - Trichogaster trichopterus
