Luciocephalus pulcher, the pikehead, giant pikeheadorcrocodile pikehead, is a speciesofgourami native to the Malaya Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is a yellowish-brown fish with dark brown longitudinal bands and stripes, and can reach a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) SL.
It can also be found in the aquarium trade,[2] where it is notoriously difficult to keep; they require extremely soft, acidic water and seldom eat dead foods.[3]
Compared to most gouramies, it is a highly specialized ambush predator that spends most of its time lying motionless near plants or other cover for potential prey to approach; when it does attack a potential meal (usually a smaller fish), it is able to extend its jaw to about one-third of its body length, allowing it to successfully prey upon fishes almost half of its own length.
Like several closely related genera (such as Sphaerichthys), it is a mouthbrooder (in this case a paternal mouthbrooder).
