A historical note (or five): because of their ability to live in small places, gasp air from the atmosphere and tolerant temperatures cooler than what most popular aquarium fish will take, after goldfish (who preceeded them to Europe by perhaps 150 years), they were the second ornamental exotic to be imported from Asia and the first to be kept in bowls. They (Macropodus Opercularis) arrived in Paris by 1868 and were brought to the U.S. by the centennial in 1876. They originate from China, Taiwan and Korea - where winters can be darn cold.

There are a couple of other paradisefish. Mac. concolor, the black paradise fish, comes from Vietnam and ranges into China. A pair of those, in a 15 gallon tank, on the bottom of an over-and-under stand in the cool part of my fishroom, built bubblenests and spawned all winter. Their temperature was 68 degrees F/ 20 C!
Beautiful, but tough fish! The fry are typically tiny and need microfoods, but are tolerated to a degree in a planted tank with well fed adults.

Macropodus chinensis and Macropodus ocellatus from that same Vietnam, Easten China, Korea corridor have also been described. Have never seen them, except in photos. Presumably Chinese aquarists have cultured them too - though fishes native to a country (except for Chinese goldfish and Japanese Koi) seldom are as popular as exotics. It would be neat to see them sometime.

There are anabandid groups, on-line clubs and web sellers beginning to promote more anabandids. Maybe we'll have a chance to keep them within the next decade.