Tulio+Mendoza+-+Giant+Gourami

===**Giant Gourami **===

Giant Gourami, Banded Gourami, Rainbow Gourami, and the Striped Gourami. Osphronemus Goramy
 * Common Name**
 * Scientific (Latin) Name**

Natural Habitat and Location
The Giant Gourami is both a fresh and saltwater fish. It lives in the Ocean, Rivers, Lakes, and Swamps. The Giant Gourami is native in the Indian Ocean and nearby seas. It is also being introduced in other place of the world for //biodiversity//.

Niche
The Giant Gourami is an omnivore, meaning it eats both meat and vegetables. When young, it has a diet of worms, tubifex, brine shrimp, and algae. Once it grows up it will be able to eat bigger things, like small fish, young prawn, worms, frogs, and algae.
 * Diet**

The Giant Gourami can measure up to 28 inches. It could also weigh up to an average of 20 pounds.
 * Size**

The Giant Gourami lives in tropical climates. It can live in temperatures from 20°c to 30°c. The Giant Gourami builds its nest using twigs and weeds. It also likes to live in slightly lighted areas.
 * Housing Requirements**

The Giant Gourami lives among many different kinds of animals. It has different types of relationships with them. It has a predator-prey relationship with smaller fish that it later consumes. It also has a competitive relationship with fish its own size or slightly smaller. Both organisms compete against each other for food and territory.
 * Relationships With Other Animals**

The Giant Gourami reproduces externally, meaning the male Gourami releases its sperm in the water; the sperm then swims to the females egg to begin its meiosis cycle between the two gametes. The male Gourami will then build a bubble nest out of bits of plants for the eggs. The female Gourami then releases more than 600 eggs into the bubble nest. In less than 24 hours the eggs will hatch. Then, after 3-5 days the immature Gouramies could start swimming. The Giant Gourami reproduces often; that is the reason why there is a very high population of Giant Gouramies on the Southeastern part of Asia.
 * Reproduction**



The Giant Gourami is active all year round. It's mostly active during the day, where it goes off to catch its food. Its usually solitary, because it has a competitive relationship (territorial) with other organisms.
 * Animal Activity**

Population Expansion
The Coelacanth is a carnivorous fish that lives in the same place as the Giant Gourami. The Coelacanth is an endangered species. If they were to be extinct, the Giant Gourami would replace its gap. Both fish eat meat, being dead or alive.



Species In Competition
The Giant Gourami is a fish very far from extinction. It reproduces often, causing the Gourami population to constantly increase. It will be a very long time before they all go extinct. On the other hand, the Coelacanth is a critically endangered species. In other words, it would not take long before the Coelacanth goes extinct. Thus, the Giant Gourami will soon replace the Coelacanth's niche.

= =

Interesting Facts

 * Like all other Gouramies they can breathe air, generally gulping it at the water's surface. They have a special "labyrinth organ" which acts like a lung which enables them to survive in oxygen-depleted waters.
 * Male Gouramies tend to be aggressive to one another and may fight, rendering the well known Gourami "kiss" in an aggressive ritualized manner.
 * In Southeastern parts of Asia, the Giant Gourami is considered an exquisite delicacy.

Work Cited
"Giant gourami." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Ed. Wikipedia Contributors. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . Froese, R., and D. Pauly. "Osphronemus goramy, Giant gourami : fisheries, aquaculture, aquarium." Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . Brough, David. "Giant Gourami, Osphronemus goramy, Common Gourami, True Gourami, Family: Osphronemidae, Subfamily: Osphroneminae." //Dr. Jungles Exotic Pets, Animals, Aquariums//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . Axelrod, Glen S., Warren E. Burgess, Neal Pronek, and Axelrod, Herbert R. //Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes//. Minneapolis: TFH Publications, 2007. Print.