NEWS103
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Maleof thecultivated form‘BlueParadisefish’
Maleof thewild formof theParadisefish,
Macropodusopercularis
All Photos:FrankSchäfer
heparadise fishwas, reportedly, first
imported into Europe in 1869 by a
French officer who was ordered to take
100 specimens to France by the consul
based in Ningpo, a city in the north
eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.
Only 22 specimens are said to have
survived the journeyand17of thesewere
passed on to Pierre Carbonnier, a
renowned fish breeder of the time, who
subsequently bred them. No-one in
Europe had ever seen such colourful
T
It is the first so-called ‘tropical’ fish imported into Europe.Yet, despite its
long history stretching back more than 150 years, the paradise fish
(
Macropodusopercularis
) is still the focusof somedebate. Inparticular, its
relation to, at least, two other paradise fish, as well as its overall
classification,are still causing confusion in somequarters.
TheParadisefish
by JohnDawes
aquarium fishand this,nodoubt added to
the ‘exotic’, i.e. mysterious and oriental,
nature of the species, led to the fish
becoming popular. Another important
factor was its hardiness, which allowed it
to survive quite adequately in unheated
aquaria.
Once the paradise fish became well
known, the aggressive behaviour of
males, particularly towards conspecific
rivals, could well have been one of the
factors limiting its greater popularity
amonghobbyists.The fact is that, despite
its undoubted beauty and the species
(plus the several varieties which have
beendeveloped)beingeasilyavailable,
M.
opercularis
has never quite matched the
popularity of other, later, arrivals on the
scene, such as guppies, swordtails, angels
and the like. Personally, I find this a little
puzzling,sinceoneof its relatives is just as
pugnacious, or even moreso, and is
nonetheless one of themost popular fish
Evergreens
