Leopard Ctenopoma Gourami

Despite the shop name, the leopard ctenopoma (Ctenopoma acutirostre) is not a gourami at all. It is an African climbing perch from the Congo basin, related to gouramis and bettas but with a very different way of life. The body is a mottled tan and chocolate, broken up like dead leaf litter, and the fish hangs at an angle among wood and plants with its fins folded, drifting rather than swimming. It is superbly camouflaged, which is the whole point.

Aquarium care

• A slow, patient ambush predator that will eat any fish it can fit in its mouth.
• Solitary and unaggressive towards fish too large to swallow.
• Wants dim light, dense wood and planting, and quiet water.
• Often refuses flake. Frozen bloodworm, chopped prawn and sinking carnivore pellets are more reliable.
• Grows steadily and needs a tank sized for the adult.

It suits an aquarist who wants an unusual, quiet predator rather than a busy community. Keep it only with fish clearly too big to be eaten, such as larger barbs, medium catfish and robust cichlids. Tetras, rasboras and shrimp will disappear.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See more in assorted and interesting.