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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: giant gourami
Synonyms and Other Names: (giant gourami, giant gouramy).
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: See Roberts (1992a) for recent revision of genus, redescription of Osphronemus goramy, and color photographs. Additional color photographs appeared in Axelrod et al. (1985) and Kottelat et al. (1993). Similar species include the recently described O. septemfasciatus and O. laticlavius (Roberts 1992a).
Size: 80 cm SL.
Native Range: Tropical Asia. Natural range probably limited to Thailand, the Malay
Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Indochina (Mekong Basin) (Roberts
1992a; also see Berra 1981).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: Nine small specimens were introduced to Hawaii, apparently into pond or lake habitat, in 1950 (Brock 1960); the site was recorded as Oahu, Honolulu County by Maciolek (1984). This species was reportedly taken from an unspecified locality in Washington, apparently some time prior to July 1992 (Fletcher, personal communication).
Means of Introduction: According to Brock (1960), the giant gorami introduced to Hawaii came from the Philippines. The reason for the introduction was not given, although it was presumably stocked as another food fish. The Washington fish was a possible aquarium release.
Status: Reported from Hawaii and Washington. Although a few of the fish introduced to Hawaii survived for an extended period, they did not reproduce (Brock 1960).
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks: This is a famous food fish in Southeast Asia and important in freshwater aquaculture in tropical Asia (Roberts 1989, 1992a). It has been introduced widely into the Old and New World Tropics, including islands that otherwise have no primary freshwater fish; the introduced stock, in most cases, is probably from Java (Roberts 1992a). Brock (1960) stated that there may have been introductions into Hawaii prior to 1950 which, similar to the one reported, were unsuccessful. During the late 1800s there were plans to introduce this species into California waters, apparently because of it potential as a food fish, but live specimens were never obtained (Dill and Cordone 1997). There are no known voucher specimens.
Axelrod, H. R., W. E. Burgess, N. Pronek, and J. G. Walls. 1985. Dr. Axelrod's atlas of freshwater aquarium fishes. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
Berra, T. M. 1981. An atlas of distribution of the freshwater fish families of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE.
Devick, W. S. 1991a. Disturbances and fluctuations in the Wahiawa Reservoir ecosystem. Project F-14-R-15, Job 4, Study I. Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. 21 pp.
Devick, W. S. 1991b. Patterns of introductions of aquatic organisms to Hawaiian freshwater habitats. Pages 189-213 in new directions in research, management and conservation of Hawaiian freshwater stream ecosystems. Proceedings of the 1990 symposium on freshwater stream biology and fisheries management, Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Fletcher, D. - Warmwater Fisheries Resource Manager, Washington Department of Wildlife, Olympia, WA. Response to NBS-G nonindigenous questionaire and other reports. 1992.
Kottelat, M., A. J. Whitten, S. N. Kartikasari, and S. Wirjoatmodjo. 1993. Freshwater fishes of Western Indonesia and Sulawesi. Periplus Editions, Ltd., Republic of Indonesia. 221 pp. (+ plates).
Maciolek, J. A. 1984. Exotic fishes in Hawaii and other islands of Oceania. Pages 131-161 in W. R. Courtenay, Jr., and J. R. Stauffer, Jr., editors. Distribution, biology, and management of exotic fishes. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Roberts, T. R. 1992a. Systematic revision of the southeast Asian anabantoid fish genus Osphronemus, with descriptions of two new species. Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters 2(4):351-360.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico
Revision Date: 12/5/2003 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico. 2009. Osphronemus gorami. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=798> Revision Date: 12/5/2003
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