Labyrinth Fish: The Bubble-Nest Builders

I have an out of print copy of Helmut Pinter's Labyrinth Fish book, copyrighted 1984 and though I have found it a great source for imformation, it was lacking in some areas...most importantly pictures. Well, this book by Horst Linke more than makes up for what my other reference lacks. There is a picture of every single fish covered...in fact, the author, who appears to have done extensive research in both Asia and Africa, makes it clear that only the rarest speices for which no picture could be provided have been left out. For each species there is a map of orgination, care and breeding information and of course a picture. Better yet, each picture has the scentific name below, so no searching footnotes to be sure what it is you are looking at. Also, if you love Betta's, there's about 30 species covered AGAIN with pictures. I could find nothing negative to say. My interest lies with the Macropodus and Pseudosphromenus species and until reading this reference I had some confusion regarding the some of the different species. I also found it helpful that the author pictures hybrid speices that are common in the aquarium trade.

A very well written book that covers the identification, biotopes, general care and breeding of both the bubblenesting as well as the mouthbrooding species of the labyrinth fish in Asia and Africa. Horst Linke had done a lot of research and packed this volume with heaps of good stuff, including photos of more than 80 species of labyrinth fish (including over 30 betta species) and some very informative illustrations of these special fish and their natural habitats. Highly recommended for the wild betta enthusiast who wants to differentiate the Betta coccina from the Betta rutilans, or the Betta bellica from the Betta pugnax.

I was very pleased to recieve this book. It is clear, easy to read and has pictures of all the different types of Grourami's, Paradise Fish and Beta's and a few other species I did not even know were Labyrinth Fish. It has 175 pages of information and many, many pictures. It is the nicest book I have found yet on Labyrinth Fish. Happy Reading!