The Macropodusinae are a subfamily of freshwater perciform fishes in the gourami family Osphronemidae. Like all members of the family, these are air breathing fishes that frequently inhabit oxygen poor environments hostile to other fishes (the licorice gouramies of Parosphromenus inhabit well-oxygenated, but extremely soft and acidic, blackwater streams). They are native to Asia, from Pakistan and India to the Malay Archipelago and north-easterly towards Korea. Many members are common aquarium fish; by far the most famous is the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (note that the domesticated form is very likely a hybrid). Most (not all) of the 70+ betta species are paternal mouthbrooders; the remaining members of the subfamily are bubblenesters like most osphronemids.
The following are some of the many species in this subfamily. Betta is by far the largest genus with over 70 species (more than the rest of the subfamily combined and easily the largest osphronemid genus), followed by Parosphromenus (which, with at least 20 species, is the next most specious osphronemid genus).
Genus Betta
Akar betta, B. akarensis Regan, 1910.
Betta albimarginata Kottelat & Ng, 1994.
Giant betta, B. anabatoides Bleeker, 1851.
Betta antoni Tan & Ng, 2006.
Betta balunga Herre, 1940.
Slim betta, B. bellica Sauvage, 1884.
Betta breviobesus Tan & Kottelat, 1998.
Betta brownorum Witte & Schmidt, 1992.
Betta burdigala Kottelat & Ng, 1994.
Betta channoides Kottelat & Ng, 1994.
Betta chini Ng, 1993.
Betta chloropharynx Kottelat & Ng, 1994.
Betta coccina Vierke, 1979.
Betta compuncta Tan & Ng, 2006.
Betta dimidiata Roberts, 1989.
Betta edithae Vierke, 1984.
Betta enisae Kottelat, 1995.
Betta falx Tan & Kottelat, 1998.
Betta foerschi Vierke, 1979.
Dusky betta, B. fusca Regan, 1910.
Betta hipposideros Ng & Kottelat, 1994.
Betta ibanorum Tan & Ng, 2004.
Betta ideii Tan & Ng, 2006.
Crescent betta, B. imbellis Ladiges, 1975.
Betta krataios Tan & Ng, 2006.
Betta livida Ng & Kottelat, 1992.
Spotfin betta, B. macrostoma Regan, 1910.
Betta mandor Tan & Ng, 2006.
Betta miniopinna Tan & Tan, 1994.
Betta patoti Weber & de Beaufort, 1922.
Betta persephone Schaller, 1986.
Elephant betta, B. pi Tan, 1998.
Spotted betta, Betta picta (Valenciennes, 1846).
Betta pinguis Tan & Kottelat, 1998.
Big head betta, Betta prima Kottelat, 1994.
Forest betta, Betta pugnax (Cantor, 1849).
Betta pulchra Tan & Tan, 1996.
Betta renata Tan, 1998.
Toba betta, Betta rubra Perugia, 1893.
Betta rutilans Witte & Kottelat, 1991.
Betta schalleri Kottelat & Ng, 1994.
Krabi betta, Betta simplex Kottelat, 1994.
Emerald green betta, Betta smaragdina Ladiges, 1972.
Betta spilotogena Ng & Kottelat, 1994.
Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens Regan, 1910.
Betta strohi Schaller & Kottelat, 1989.
Borneo betta, Betta taeniata Regan, 1910.
Betta tomi Ng & Kottelat, 1994.
Betta tussyae Schaller, 1985.
Betta uberis Tan & Ng, 2006.
Howong betta, Betta unimaculata (Popta, 1905).
Betta waseri Krummenacher, 1986.
Genus Macropodus
Macropodus erythropterus Freyhof & Herder, 2002.
Macropodus hongkongensis Freyhof & Herder, 2002.
Roundtail paradisefish, Macropodus ocellatus (de Beaufort, 1933).
Paradise fish, Macropodus opercularis (Linnaeus, 1758).
Macropodus spechti Schreitmüller, 1936.
Genus Malpulutta
Ornate paradisefish, Malpulutta kretseri Deraniyagala, 1937.
Genus Parosphromenus
Parosphromenus allani Brown, 1987.
Parosphromenus anjunganensis Kottelat, 1991.
Parosphromenus bintan Kottelat & Ng, 1998.
Licorice gourami, Parosphromenus deissneri (Bleeker, 1859).
Spiketail gourami, Parosphromenus filamentosus (Oshima, 1919).
Parosphromenus linkei Kottelat, 1991.
Parosphromenus nagyi Schaller, 1985.
Parosphromenus ornaticauda Kottelat, 1991.
Parosphromenus paludicola Tweedie, 1952.
Parosphromenus parvulus Vierke, 1979.
Genus Pseudosphromenus
Spiketail paradisefish, Pseudosphromenus cupanus (Cuvier, 1831).
Pseudosphromenus dayi (Köhler, 1908).
Genus Trichopsis
Pygmy gourami, Trichopsis pumila (Arnold, 1936).
Threestripe gourami, Trichopsis schalleri (Kottelat & Ng, 1994).
Croaking gourami, Trichopsis vittata (Cuvier, 1831).
