Moonlight gourami developed black stripe?

I have 6 moonlights in a 92 bow front tank along with a 12 inch albino giant gourami. I bought the moonlights as 1 inch juveniles and as they grew up two of the six developed a black horizontal line that runs from the gills to the tail on both sides of their body...I can't find anything online about this...they fade out and get darker at times. When I feed they get really dark then fade out to almost gone after they all calm down. I can't tell male vs. Female quite yet as they are only 3 months old. No pictures online show anything like this and it makes me wonder if the breeder cross bred with pearls or snakeskin or something. Anyone have any idea what is going on? Cause I am going crazy trying to figure it out!! I posted a pic of the whole tank too just to share with everyone and thank you for any info you guys may have!

 

Found an old post about this same thing on here, doesn't look like a defining answer, but does offer a couple ideas.
Moonlight gourami with black stripe and spot? | Gourami Forum | 103779

 

Hi, welcome to fishlore.
Before I fully read your post I wondered myself, if this was a cross with a Pearl Gourami. Very interesting.
chromedome52 I'd be very much interested in your opinion on this as well as if you know of these kind of crosses in Gourami?
It seems to be something that can be an possibility within the Trichogaster genus though I'm not sure how possible that is within other genera i.e. Trichopodus, I just don't know if they are that genetically similar.

 

The first picture appears to be a Gold Form of the Pearl Gourami. Not very common, but the markings tend to be very pale when compared to a normal Pearl Gourami. Can't see much in the other two photos, but best guess is a group of Gold Pearl Gouramis. The fish were probably mislabeled as Moonlight because they are so pale.

As for the possibillity of hybrids, I don't know. I've not heard of any such crosses, but new things are happening all the time.

 

The first picture appears to be a Gold Form of the Pearl Gourami. Not very common, but the markings tend to be very pale when compared to a normal Pearl Gourami. Can't see much in the other two photos, but best guess is a group of Gold Pearl Gouramis. The fish were probably mislabeled as Moonlight because they are so pale.

As for the possibillity of hybrids, I don't know. I've not heard of any such crosses, but new things are happening all the time.

Oh, that is a good one. I completely forgot about them, though I've only seen fully coloured adults in pictures.

Thank you for commenting on this, I was very curious =)

 

The first picture appears to be a Gold Form of the Pearl Gourami. Not very common, but the markings tend to be very pale when compared to a normal Pearl Gourami. Can't see much in the other two photos, but best guess is a group of Gold Pearl Gouramis. The fish were probably mislabeled as Moonlight because they are so pale.

As for the possibillity of hybrids, I don't know. I've not heard of any such crosses, but new things are happening all the time.

They are definitely moonlights. The others are perfect and the gold you're seeing is a reflection of light off the algae growing around the tank. They came from the same group of fry i was told. They are all bright silver and some have blue starting to show around the gills. My phone camera won't focus on them cause my tank is scratched from the previous owners not knowing how to clean it apparently lol.

 

The first picture in this thread is a Pearl Gourami. The last two photos are Moonlight Gouramis. So whoever told you those fish all came from the same spawn is mistaken. They may have been mixed together at the shipper. But the fish with the stripe down the side is not a Moonlight. The other fish were not that visible in the first set of pictures. These last pictures are much better, and I can tell you that you have two species, not one.

 

Young moonlights occasionally have a black horizontal stripe which disappears when they're fully grown.

 

Young moonlights occasionally have a black horizontal stripe which disappears when they're fully grown.

Do they have spotting on the body and fins like this fish shows? Because the spotting is what made me believe Pearl.

 

Do they have spotting on the body and fins like this fish shows? Because the spotting is what made me believe Pearl.

There is no spotting or Pearling its just my terrible camera coupled with algeaand scratcheson the tank. That's what I was telling you in my last reply...its a tad more dull than the others but still solid silver everywhere besides the stripe.

 

T. microlepis show a faint mottled pattern on their analfins. I think all of the fish are moonlights - in time we’ll know for sure.

 

Thank you everyone for the input! I'll keep the thread updated with pics as they grow!