Honey Gourami Discoloration

[juniorskeptical]

I have 2 Honey Gouramis that I thought were turning black because I read that they’ll turn black when they want to mate, but I’m not so sure anymore as to what is going on. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Bub]

Those aren't honey gouramis, those are thick lipped gouramis. It's natural for that colour variant to go darker over time (particularly the males). They both look male as well, which can end badly.

 

[Essjay]

Just for information: honey gourami males don't turn black when they want to mate. The natural coloured and yellow varieties both have black throats which intensify when they want to mate, that's all. Yellows have a smaller amount of black that natural coloured males. Female honeys don't have black throats or turn black.

 

[Avel1896]

Hello
If there is a kind of red-orange border on dorsal fin they are Trichogaster labiosa, a personable goyrami.

 

[juniorskeptical]

As long as they are healthy, it doesn’t really matter to me what they are?

 

[Avel1896]

Of course health is one of the main points. That said, as it (surely) has been additionally developed/selected/hybrided to carry out extra of its orange/dark red/bronze morph, it has to be infertile.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Of course health is one of the main points. That said, as it (surely) has been additionally developed/selected/hybrided to carry out extra of its orange/dark red/bronze morph, it has to be infertile.

I don't think it will be the case that they will be infertile, I believe this colour morph is quite readily bred in the home aquarium(haven't done it myself, so take it with a grain of salt). The colour itself is from selective breeding.

Just for information: honey gourami males don't turn black when they want to mate. The natural coloured and yellow varieties both have black throats which intensify when they want to mate, that's all. Yellows have a smaller amount of black that natural coloured males. Female honeys don't have black throats or turn black.

Agreed, to add females can have a black band running down their lateral line, again it's more prominent in the wild colouring but can show up in Gold females especially when spawning though not necessarily.

Edit: so as fate would have it, my male and female were just wrapping. I tried to get a picture but no luck and I just want to leave them to it. Here is a picture of the male just after wrapping:

Obviously this doesn't prove they are fertile at least not yet.

Op. you can also see some of the darker colouring though keep in mind this is a black water setup.