Most of the floating egg spawners are very popular production items on commercial farms since they are generally easy to spawn, produce large numbers of eggs, and the fry are relativity easy to rear. Some of the smaller species such as the Dwarf Gourami need very little room to spawn and can be done in one gallon containers. Most of the Gouramis that fall into this category bring a lower price ($0.20 - 0.40 each farm gate) but are marketed in large quantities. The exception to this in the floating egg producer category is the “Paradise Fishes”. They produce low numbers of eggs and are more difficult to culture. They are not currently popular in the industry but may bring $1.00 - $2.00 each.
The sinking egg producers are primarily comprised of the Bettas. They have been popular with hobbyist since their first introduction to the hobby. Betta splendens ranked fourth in both the num- ber of fish imported and value for October 1992 (Chapman et al. 1994). The Bettas are labor inten- sive to produce in large numbers on farms. The males are highly aggressive to other males and females as well, and must be kept individually in containers. These behavioral factors along with the relatively low fecundity of the females makes this fish a poor candidate for mass production. Most are either imported, bred on small speciality farms or produced by the hobbyist.
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The Ctenopoma sp. although easy to produce, are not highly popular in the industry due to their generally dull coloration. These fish are generally sold in small numbers as collectors items.
There are also several mutations, hybrids and varieties produced in the industry. Mutations are inherited traits, not the result of interspecific crossings. And in fact some of the most popular Gouramis are mutations. The ones known to date are the Macropodus opercularis - albino form, Anabas testudineus - xanthorous form (an excess of yellow pigmentation), Helostoma temmincki - xanthorous form, Trichogaster Trichopterus - golden and silver forms, Betta splendens xanthorous and black forms (Richter 1988).
Varieties are fish produced by selecting the parent fish for desirable characteristics and improv- ing upon them over a period of generations. Dwarf gouramis are a good example of varieties bred for various color intensity and patterns. Hybrids are produced by crossing different species of fish. A hybrid will take on a mix of traits of both parents, or exhibit traits from the dominate parent. Many times hybrids will produce sterile offspring, so a particular hybrid may have to be bred from genetically pure parents each time. The best example of hybrids in the labyrinth fishes is the Betta sp. Various hybrids have produced the wide array of color and fin types that you see in pet stores.