In the wild, the elephant ear gourami is found in the Mekong river basin of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

[3] The only section of the Mekong basin where the giant gourami likely occurs naturally are in the southernmost part, like tributaries originating in the northern Cardamom Mountains.

[4][5] During the wet season, elephant ear gouramis are found in flooded forests and floodplains.

A red orange stripe appears around the bottom of the head when a juvenile grows up to about around 10 centimetres (3.9 in).

[1] Dams in the Mekong disrupted the wet and dry season cycle which lowered the population of this species.