Moonlight gourami in the floodplain of the lower Mekong. The moonlight gourami eats insects, crustaceans, and zooplankton. Like all labyrinth fish, the moonlight gourami has a special lung-like organ that allows it to breathe air directly. Because of this labyrinth organ, it is not unusual to see it go to the surface and gulp air. The ability to breathe air allows the moonlight gourami to survive in very low oxygen situations. In fact, if it remains moist it can actually survive out of water for up to several hours. As with other labyrinth fish, these species are oviparous and employ bubble nests
Honey gourami becomes much brighter and is used to court the female. The undersides of the males become black when breeding. Males also exhibit somewhat of an orange tinge in their fins, with the exception of the caudal fin. The male also has longer fins, with a pointed dorsal fin and extended anal fin rays. Two other color varieties have been selectively bred—a red-orange variety known as sunset or robin red, and a lighter variety called gold. This can sometimes lead to confusion, in part because the red-orange type can look like the red variety of dwarf gourami ("Colisa lalia"). The honey