| Pseudosphromenus dayi | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anabantiformes |
| Family: | Osphronemidae |
| Genus: | Pseudosphromenus |
| Species: | P. dayi |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudosphromenus dayi (Köhler, 1908) | |
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| Red:extant, Light red: possibly extant | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
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Pseudosphromenus dayi or Indian spiketail betta is a species of freshwater ray finned fish from the subfamily Macropodusinae, part of the gourami family Osphronemidae. It occurs in Kerala on both the coastal regions and the Western Ghats. [1] It is a species of still or slow flowing waters, especially lakes, ditches and swamps [2] in both fresh and brackish waters. Pseudosphromenus dayi is a bubble nester, the male creates a nest made of bubbles under an overhang or a leaf. The females lays eggs which drop to the substrate and are picked up by both fishes in the pair and placed in the bubble nest. [1] The name Polyacanthus cupanus dayi was first published in 1908 by Köhler in 1908 but Catalog of Fishes refers to this as a nomen nudum and attributes the valid use of the name, with a formal description, to P. Engmann in 1909. The type locality is given as Malacca which is probably an error and should be Kerala. [3] The specific name honors the British ichthyologist and author of the Fishes of India, Francis Day (1830–1889). [4]
