There’s a fish that kisses each other
But they’re not for the reasons you think it is.
We humans like to kiss a lot. From the mouth to ah, other regions, it’s something that we enjoy doing. And while other animals show their form of affection from nuzzling, to licking to vocalisation, you would think that kissing is uniquely a human behaviour.
Turns out it’s not.
There’s one species of fish known for “kissing” each other.
The kissing gourami as aptly named, are a medium-sized freshwater fish famous for their unique mouth structure that allows them to pucker up.
While the kissing gourami originated in Southeast Asia, they are popular in areas like Europe, Australia, North America and other parts of the world as an aquarium fish. They are also cultivated in Indochina as a food fish.
So, chances are, you might have already come across one before.
The kissing gourami has a forward-facing mouth, unlike other gourami species that have upward facing mouths. In addition to having a protruding mouth, their lips are also lined with horny teeth.
While this gives them the appearance of perpetually kissing, they have other uses for their “kiss”.
The kissing gourami are omnivores, feeding on a variety of things such as insect, larvae, algae and microorganisms. Using their unique mouth structure, they can scrape off food such as algae off hard substrates.
This makes it seem like they’re “kissing” the surface where in reality, they’re just feeding off it.
But what really makes them stand out, is their “kissing” behaviour towards each other.
Yes, you read that right - they kiss each other. But they don’t have the same reasons for kissing as we do.
When two gouramis kiss, it’s for combat, not for affection. The kissing gouramis press their mouths together and push against each other, trying to establish dominance. This kissing behaviour tends to occur during feeding and sometimes during combat and courtship.
They also “kiss” to establish their hierarchy and territory.
On top of that, the kissing gourami can also kill other fish. By sucking the mucus of the fish’s skin as food, the kissing gourami can make the attacked fish vulnerable to infections.
The kissing gourami really do take kissing to a whole new level, don’t they?
Well, it’s safe to say that I’m happy to stick with our conventional reasons for kissing. Especially since we’re not trying to kill each other with our kisses.