| Luciocephalus pulcher | |
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| Conservation status | |
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anabantiformes |
| Family: | Osphronemidae |
| Genus: | Luciocephalus |
| Species: | L. pulcher |
| Binomial name | |
| Luciocephalus pulcher (J. E. Gray, 1830) | |
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| Red:extant, light red: possibly extant | |
| Synonyms | |
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Luciocephalus pulcher, the pikehead, giant pikehead or crocodile pikehead, is a species of gourami native to the Malaya Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is a yellowish-brown fish with dark brown longitudinal bands and stripes, and can reach a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) SL.
It can also be found in the aquarium trade, where it is notoriously difficult to keep; they require extremely soft, acidic water and seldom eat dead foods.
Habitat
It can be found in a variety of habitats like flooded forests, streams, and peat swamps, especially in areas with plentiful vegetation.
Behavior
Compared to most gouramies, it is a highly specialized ambush predator that spends most of its time lying motionless near plants or other cover for potential prey to approach; when it does attack a potential meal (usually a smaller fish), it is able to extend its jaw to about one-third of its body length, allowing it to successfully prey upon fishes almost half of its own length.
Like several closely related genera (such as Sphaerichthys), it is a mouthbrooder (in this case a paternal mouthbrooder).
References
- Low, B.W. (2019). "Luciocephalus pulcher". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T89808937A89808945. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T89808937A89808945.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Luciocephalus pulcher". FishBase. February 2014 version.
- "Luciocephalus pulcher (Giant Pikehead) — Seriously Fish".
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Luciocephalus pulcher | |
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