Macropodus is a genus of fairly small gouramies native to freshwater habitats in eastern Asia. Most species are restricted to southern China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Vietnam, but M. opercularis occurs as far north as the Yangtze basin, and M. ocellatus occurs north to the Amur River, as well as in Japan and Korea. In China, they are often used for fights, so they are named Chinese bettas because of their similarity to the Betta genus. A few species in the genus are regularly seen in the aquarium trade, and M. opercularis has been introduced to regions far outside its native range.