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Thursday, 14 January 2010


Ugliest fish finds a boyfriend

Ugliest fish finds a boyfriend

Bristol Zoo’s biggest and ugliest fish has found a new mate

Gladys, Bristol Zoo's giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy) - one of the ugliest yet most popular fish in Bristol Zoo, lives in a huge tank with dozens of other tropical fish, but she has not had a mate of her own for four years.

But now a male giant gourami, called Gerry, has arrived as a match for Gladys.

The pair are now getting to know each other in their 20,000 litre Asian-themed tank in the Zoo’s aquarium.

Jonny Rudd, assistant curator of the aquarium at Bristol Zoo, said: “It’s great to have a new male giant gourami as a mate for Gladys. They are such charismatic fish - although some people think they are ugly – yet Gladys has always been one of the most popular fish in the aquarium.”

Giant gouramis can grow up to 70cm in length and can live for up to 25 years.

Jonny added: “Gladys seems to be responding well to the arrival of Gerry. It is still very early days but they are swimming around happily together. Gouramis are fantastic fish and they seem to respond to the public and follow them as they walk past their tank.”

 





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11 Comments


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  • Derby22 (Age 11) wrote on Thursday, 14 January 2010 @ 16:20

    Haha Gladys is so ugly! I'm surprised she's got a mate! Though I feel a bit sorry for her actually, I wish I wasn't her, but I'm glad she's one of the most popular fish to look at! Good luck with your new mate Gladys!

  • seaturtle (Age 12) wrote on Thursday, 14 January 2010 @ 17:21

    awwwww

  • arwa (Age 11) wrote on Thursday, 14 January 2010 @ 21:44

    cute,funny but mostly cute

  • Polesworth (Age 14) wrote on Friday, 15 January 2010 @ 19:09

    I think she is a great fishy!

  • wolves28 (Age 12) wrote on Monday, 18 January 2010 @ 18:34

    Poor fish she looks so ugly i'm surprised shes got a mate too!

  • chlber (Age 12) wrote on Saturday, 23 January 2010 @ 23:35

    i'm glad she has got a companian to look after her and look out for her

  • Pops (Age 11) wrote on Monday, 8 February 2010 @ 18:23

    I think she is really cute

  • Greenway (Age 11) wrote on Saturday, 1 May 2010 @ 10:36

    I' ve seen fish uglier than that. She is sooo lucky

  • redhorse10 (Age 14) wrote on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 @ 17:43

    I don't think she's ugly or cute, because she probably looks about normal for a fish of her species.

  • Mop (Age 12) wrote on Thursday, 17 March 2011 @ 21:01

    Wow

  • zini (Age 10) wrote on Thursday, 1 September 2011 @ 09:32

    awwwwwwwwww