Opaline gourami

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Care at a glance

Overview

Opaline swaps the two body spots for swirled dark marbling over a blue-silver body, so the spots the species is named for are gone. Every fish is marked differently and shops rarely grade them, so pick by eye. Sold as opaline, marbled or cosby gourami depending on the store, and all three names cover the same fish.

In the wild

The marbled pattern was bred from the blue three-spot in captivity and does not occur in wild fish. Hobby references trace it through a strain called the cosby gourami, credited to an American breeder named Cosby and described as a silver-blue fish carrying darker blue markings. The opaline was developed on from there, and the sources repeating that account attach no date to it.

Good to know

Marbling comes from dark pigment spreading unevenly instead of gathering into the two flank spots, so the arrangement is individual to each fish. Opaline pairs give opaline fry, but the exact markings are not repeatable from one generation to the next. Body shape, finnage and the pointed male dorsal are unchanged; only the pigment layout differs.

Common questions

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