Luciocephalus pulcher
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
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)
Synonyms
Diplopterus pulcher J. E. Gray, 1830

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,^[2] where it is notoriously difficult to keep; they require extremely soft, acidic water and seldom eat dead foods.^[3]

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