• Scientific name: Trichopodus pectoralis
• Synonyms: Trichopodus pectoralis
• Common name: Snakeskin gourami
• Group: Labyrinth fishes
• Habitat:Asia; Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam
• Size: 20-25 cm
• Biotope: Found in shallow sluggish or standing waters and rice raddies with a lot of aquatic vegetation. Also occurs in flooded forests in the lower Mekong area.
• Social behavior: A very peaceful species, even during spawning, but may eat smaller fish.
• Diet: Omnivorous; feeding mostly on plant matter or algae, but also eats invertebrates. It can be fed with live, frozen and flake foods in aquarium.
• Breeding: Quite easy
• Tank: Minimum 150 litres
• Population: 1 pair for 180 litres
• Decoration: Does well in a shallow tank with the water of 30 cm. The fish need places to hide, and floating plants are recommended.
• Temperature: 24-28 °C
• pH: 5.8-8.5
• Hardness: 1-15 NK°
• Lifespan: 3-5 years

Description: Snakeskin gourami has an olive green back and a greenish-gray body with a silver iridescence. There is an irregular black stripe from the eye to the middle of caudal fin base. Its anal fin is nearly the length of the body and the pelvic fins are long and thread-like. The belly is white. The rear part of the body may be marked with faint transverse stripes. The dorsal and anal fins of male are pointed and there is a fringe on the orange-red pelvic fins. On the female the fins are yellow. Trichopodus pectoralis is rarely imported. Has been introduced to several countries for aquaculture purposes, as it's a popular food fish in Asia. With their labyrinth organ they can breathe atmospheric air, and can survive in oxygen-poor muddy waters.

A bubble nest builder, the water level should be reduced to 15-20 cm in the breeding tank with lots of floating plants. Male will construct a large bubblenest under the surface, and starts to display to the female. During breeding they can produce croaking or growling sounds. They spawn under the bubble nest: the male embraces the female’s body with his own body while the eggs and sperm are released. The eggs float toward the surface and the male guide them into the nest. It is the most prolific among all the gourami species. The number of the eggs can be 5000! After they spawn, the male chase the female away, so it is best to remove her from the tank. The eggs hatch in 20-30 hours and the fry become free swimming in another 4-5 days. The male can be removed at this point. The fry can be fed with infusoria type foods, and later brine shrimp nauplii. They grow only very slow and are very susceptible to changes in water temperature for the first 3 months.