Labyrinth Fish World

I have been an aquarist ever since my early youth, and my first fishes were Siamese Fighters, Betta splendens. That was many decades ago but these fishes have never lost their fascination for me – labyrinthfishes in general, that is, and many of them in particular. Their bright colours and interesting behaviour mean they are always special, and so do their requirements as regards optimal maintenance.
In the interim I have also embraced other groups of fishes, for example the small, colourful West Africans, and Discus with their very interesting brood care, and have been very successful with one of the Kings of the Aquarium, the Altum Angelfish. But I have always continued to keep labyrinthfishes as well. In addition to the numerous different Betta species I never cease to be fascinated by the little liquorice gouramis, and that is one reason why in recent years I have visited and studied a multitude of the natural habitats of these small, brightly-coloured Parosphromenus species. Unfortunately, in so doing I have established that these habitats – and with them the animal and fish species to which they are home – are increasingly falling victim to the need of humans for living space plus industrial and agricultural usage. Natural disasters such as major flooding and exceptional spates have destroyed or altered some natural habitats, often those limited to a small area. Here too many species have been lost as a result, and sometimes biotopes I had explored in the past were completely changed or no longer existed at all. As a result there are increasing numbers of cases where species that formerly lived at a site can no longer be found, leaving us aquarists with the task of at least keeping these fishes in existence in the aquarium. A good example of this is the worldwide conservation program for Parosphromenus-species at www.parosphromenus-project.de as well as efforts to distribute rare but still surviving labyrinthfishes as part of the work of the European Anabantoid Club mit Arbeitskreis Labyrinthfische im VDA (EAC/AKL) at www.aklabyrinthfische-eac.eu under the heading “Have and Search”.
During my travels I have discovered numerous new species and often been able to bring them back for the aquarium for the first time. This would often not have been possible without qualified support in the field, so I would like to thank all those who accompanied me during my trips, above all Atison Pumchoosri, Hendra Tommy, Katsuma Kubota, Nathan Chiang, Patrick Yap, and Thomas Sim, without whose help I would not have been able to observe many species in their natural habitats and subsequently in my aquaria back home. I would also like to thank Dr. Jürgen Schmidt for reviewing the manuscript and Mary Bailey for the English translation.
In this book I have tried to present all the species known to and described by science up to 2012, not least because the number has increased enormously over the past decade. Most of the fish names are based on the original descriptions, even though the spelling isn’t always correct in the view of various current scientists.
I hope that this book, containing my biotope studies, numerous illustrations, and my suggestions for optimal maintenance, will contribute to the conservation of the host of colourful and extremely interesting labyrinthfishes.
Horst Linke
Schwarzenbach am Wald, Germany, Oktober 2013

Horst Linke has been involved in the aquarium hobby since early childhood. His first study animals included fightingfishes and other labyrinthfishes, and these remain the focus of his interest to the present day. Hence during a trip across the “Dark Continent” in 1963 he took the opportunity to study the natural habitats of the African labyrinthfishes. And this was simultaneously the beginning of a second field of interest: the maintenance and breeding of West African cichlids, as well as the study of their biotopes. Since 1973 he has made numerous research trips to the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Tanzania, as well as to Bangladesh, Borneo, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Hongkong, Sumatra, Java, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. His interest in South American dwarf cichlids, freshwater angelfishes, and discus has taken him several times to the South American countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. During his travels he has studied natural habitats and collected information that has led to interesting new knowledge regarding maintenance and breeding in the aquarium, and he has also had the opportunity to bring back rare, in most cases previously un- or little-studied fishes for his aquaria back home. Numerous published works have reported his experiences, always very informatively illustrated with his own photos of fishes and biotopes. Because of his good working relationships with scientists at various museums and universities, it has been possible successfully to evaluate the results of his researches.
Horst Linke has for many years been actively involved in the aquarium hobby. To the present day the labyrinthfishes, together with West African cichlids, angelfishes, and discus, remain at the forefront of his interest. Numerous lectures at a wide variety of events have demonstrated the quality of his knowledge and experience. Throughout his fishkeeping career the exchange of information with other aquarists has always been paramount.