Macropodus opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The fork-tailed paradisefish, or paradise gourami (often simply known as paradise fish, paradise-fish, or paradisefish (Macropodus opercularis)), is a species of pelagic, long-finned freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Osphronemidae, found in most freshwaters of East Asia ranging from eastern China down to northern Vietnam. This anabantiform fish can reach a standard length of 6.7 cm (2+5⁄8 in), though most are only about 5.5 cm (2+3⁄16 in).
Paradise fish were the second Chinese ornamental fish introduced to the West after the Goldfish, and the first freshwater tropical fish successfully bred in captivity in Europe, having been imported 1869 to France by the French aquarium fish importer Pierre Carbonnier in Paris. The paradise fish is one of the more aggressive members of its family. It is more aggressive than the three spot gourami, yet less pugnacious in nature than the less commonly kept combtail.
Wikipedia contributors, Paradise fish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:06:54.768791+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Macropodus opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anabantiformes
- Family
- Osphronemidae
- Genus
- Macropodus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnabantiformes
- suborderAnabantoidei
- familyOsphronemidae van der Hoeven, 1832
- subfamilyMacropodusinae Hoedeman, 1948
- genusMacropodus Lacepède, 1801
- speciesMacropodus opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Macropodus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Macropodus baviensis Nguyen & Nguyen, 2005 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus erythropterus Freyhof & Herder, 2002 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus hongkongensis Freyhof & Herder, 2002 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus oligolepis Nguyen, Ngo & Nguyen, 2005 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus phongnhaensis Ngô, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2005 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus spechti Schreitmüller, 1936 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus lineatus Nguyen, Ngo & Nguyen, 2005 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Macropodus ocellatus Cantor, 1842 | OsphronemidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Macropodus viridiauratus Lacepède, 1801 Lacepède, 1801 | synonym |
| Chaetodon chinensis Bloch, 1790 Bloch, 1790 | synonym |
| Labrus opercularis Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Macropodus chinensis (Bloch, 1790) (Bloch, 1790) | synonym |
| Macropodus ctenopsoides Brind, 1915 Brind, 1915 | synonym |
| Macropodus filamentosus Oshima, 1919 Oshima, 1919 | synonym |
| Macropodus venustus Cuvier, 1831 Cuvier, 1831 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1016961 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3X8M4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.