Trichogaster fasciata
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Colisa fasciata Day.png
| image_caption = Illustration by Francis Day
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Trichogaster fasciata
| authority = Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801
| range_map = Trichogaster fasciata Map.jpg
| range_map_caption = Red: extant , Light red: possibly extant
| synonyms = *Colisa fasciata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Colisa fasciatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Polyacanthus fasciatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Trichopodus colisa Hamilton, 1822
- Trichopodus bejeus Hamilton, 1822
- Trichopodus cotra Hamilton, 1822
- Colisa vulgaris Cuvier, 1831
- Colisa ponticeriana Valenciennes, 1831
| synonyms_ref = {{Fishbase|Tricjogaster|fasciata|month=August|year=2019}}
}}
Trichogaster fasciata, the banded gourami or striped gourami or Colisa or Kholshe , is a tropical labyrinth perch found in some Asian countries like Bangladesh, Eastern India, Northeastern India, Nepal, Upper Myanmar, China and Pakistan.{{Cite journal|last=Sumon|first=K.A.|date=2017|title=Acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos to embryo and larvae of banded gourami Trichogaster fasciata|journal=Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B|volume=52|issue=2|pages=92–98|doi=10.1080/03601234.2016.1239979|pmid=28099091|bibcode=2017JESHB..52...92S |s2cid=11507639}}
It is also called giant gourami and for this reason it is often being confused with the Osphronemus goramy which has the same common name.{{Cite book |last=Alderton |first=David |title=Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish |publisher=Dorling Kindersley Limited |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-2413-6424-6 |location=UK |pages=111}}
Characteristics
Trichogaster fasciata is an air-breathing fish, so that the aerial respiration is performed with the help of a pair of supra-branchial chambers, each containing a complicated labyrinthine organ. Body is elongated and compressed. Mouth is small and slightly protrusible. Preorbital serrate is found in young fish. Body color is greenish with oblique orange or bluish bars descending downwards and backwards from the back to the anal fin.{{Cite journal|last=Mitra|first=K.|date=2007|title=Biology and fishery of banded gourami, Colisa fasciata (Bloch and Schneider 1801) in a floodplain wetland of Ganga river basin|journal=Asian Fisheries Science|volume=20|issue=4 |pages=409–423|doi=10.33997/j.afs.2007.20.4.007 |doi-access=free}} It is benthopelagic and prefers weedy environments{{citation|title=Check list - fresh water fishes of India|first=A.G.K.|last=Menon|year=1999|publisher=Zoological Survey of India|page=366}} such as estuaries, ponds, large rivers, ditches, lakes{{citation|title=Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries|first1=P.K.|last1=Talwar|first2=A.G.|last2=Jhingran|year=1991|publisher=A.A. Balkema|location=Rotterdam}} and rice fields. The species has drawn attention for its scrumptious taste, contribution to nutrition and its ornamental value as an aquarium fish.{{Cite book|title=The practical aquarium fish handbook|last=Goodwin|first=D.|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company|year=2003|location=New York}} It is somewhat shy but quite hardy, and easily adapts to life in community aquarium. It is also easy to breed in captivity. Banded gourami is being exported to Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and USA due to their distinctive color.{{Cite book|title=Ornamental fishes of West Bengal|last=Sugunan|first=V.V.|publisher=Classic Printers|year=2002|location=Kolkata, India}} In the past, the species was readily available in freshwater pools, ponds, ditches, marshes, rivers, lakes with vegetation, but the natural resources of this fish are declining fast due to various anthropogenic stressors.{{Cite journal|last=Hossen|first=M.S.|date=2014|title=Effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on gonadal maturation and spawning of striped gourami, Colisa fasciatus.|journal=International Aquatic Research|volume=6|issue=2|pages=65|doi=10.1007/s40071-014-0065-7|doi-access=free|bibcode=2014InAqR...6...65H }}
Feeding habit
Sexual dimorphism
Males are much more colourful than females, and develop pointed dorsal and anal fins when they are mature.{{Cite journal|last=Dehadrai|first=P.V.|date=1973|title=Sexual dimorphism in certain air breathing teleosts|journal=Journal of the Inland Fisheries Society of India|volume=5|pages=1–77}}
Reproduction
The total life span of this species is approximately 4 years. Banded gourami has three distinctive life stages: pre-spawning (January–March), spawning (April–August) and post-spawning (September–December). They become sexually mature at 1 year of age with the total length of male and female reached approximately at 10 cm and 6–8 cm, respectively. Generally males are slightly larger in size than their females. Male and female broods are distinguished by examining the gonads and based on the external morphological features: the upper lip of the male is more pronounced and the dorsal ventral fins are more pointed at the posterior end than those of the female. Like other Anabantoids, this species is a bubble nest builder and the fertilization is external.{{Cite journal|last=Swarup|first=K.|date=1972|title=Sexual dimorphism in the Giant Gourami, Colisa fasciata (Anabantidae)|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=42|pages=93–94}}
Relationship with humans
Before being introduced into the aquarium trade, the dwarf, along with the snakeskin gourami was and still is a popular food fish in its native range.{{cite web|url= http://agrilife24.com/2018/2018-03-19-12-26-20/458-2018-07-27-18-46-17.html | title=food|accessdate=16 January 2022|work=agrilife24}} In Bangladesh it is known as "Kholisha" and "Khosti" in India and "Kungee" in Punjab as well as different linguistic variants within its range.
Taxonomy
Trichogaster fasciata was formally described in 1801 by Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider with the type locality given as Tranquebar, a Danish trading post in India.{{Cof record|spid=19613|title=Trichogaster fasciata|access-date=15 December 2019}} It is the type species of the genus Trichogaster.{{Cof record|genid=422|title=Trichogaster|access-date=15 December 2019}}