Helostoma

Kissing gouramis, also known as kissing fish or kissers (Helostoma temminckii), are medium-sized tropical freshwater fish comprising the monotypic labyrinth fish family Helostomatidae (from the Greek elos, stoma ). These fish originate from Mainland Southeast Asia, the Greater Sundas and nearby smaller islands, but have also been introduced outside their native range. They are regarded as a food fish and they are sometimes farmed. They are used fresh for steaming, baking, broiling, and pan frying. The kissing gourami is a popular aquarium fish.

Shallow, slow-moving, and thickly vegetated backwaters are the kissing gourami's natural habitat. They are midwater omnivores that primarily graze on benthic algae and aquatic plants, with insects taken from the surface. They are also filter feeders, using their many gill rakers to supplement their diet with plankton. The fish use their toothed lips to rasp algae from stones and other surfaces. This rasping action, which (to humans) looks superficially like kissing, is also used by males to challenge the dominancy of conspecifics.