Genera: 22; 207 species; 5 families; 2 suborders.
Region: Asia, Africa; introduced in United States of America.
Habitat: freshwater.
Use: popular as aquarium fish, Siamese fighting fish, gouramies; harvested for food in their native countries.
ZoologyRay-finned fish; presence of teeth on the parasphenoid; they have a labyrinth organ, a highly folded suprabranchial accessory breathing organ, formed by vascularized expansion of the epibranchial bone of the first gill arch and used for respiration in air.
TaxonomySome authorities include the suborder Nandoidei. They form a monophyletic clade which is a sister clade to the
Ovalentaria. This clade is sometimes referred to as the
Carangaria.
Families • Channidae,
• Aenigmachannidae,
• Anabantidae
• Helostomatidae
• Osphronemidae.
Suborder Nandoidei
• Nandidae
• Badidae
• Pristolepididae.