On late Friday, March 20th, 2026, Florida-based Nautilus Wholesale shared breaking news. “We are now officially announcing the latest addition to the GloFish® line, Starfire Red® Gouramis! This might be the hottest fish in the line yet. Yes, they really look like this. We took this photo in our sales office without the use of any lens filters or enhancement. These are just that awesome! These will launch on May 3rd, so just around the corner.”
It looks like a savvy Redditor, SuspiciousBetta, was keenly aware and knew this was coming at least a couple months ago, as described in the post “Starfire Red GloFish Gourami’s (Pearl Gourami) are coming soon,” Included in the post are links to FDA reports where the new variety is listed, including “Intentional Genomic Alterations (IGAs) in Animals: Risk-Reviewed IGAs” and “STARFIRE RED GOURAMI- genetically enhanced fluorescent aquarium fish not applicable,” big tip offs that something new was in the works.
As one of the more peaceful and hardy gourami species, the Pearl Gourami (Trichopodus leerii) was arguably one of the best choices in the family for the application of the transgenic technology behind GloFish. Nautilus Wholesale continued with updates this week week, sharing that “If you’re coming to Global [Pet Expo], please stop by the booth and say hi….You’ll get to see the new Starfire Red® Gouramis in person. These are set to launch May 3rd.”
