http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/bettastory.htm
Rainbow-hued bettas have colorful history
When a betta's rainbow hues catch your eye, it is easy to overlook the rich history
that has brought aquarists the different varieties and color patterns available today.
The Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, has a history as colorful as its flowing
fins.
The Siamese have possessed an interest in the betta, primarily for its fighting
nature, for many centuries. The fish selected to fight were chosen for their
pugnacious attitude rather than their looks.
These fighters -- streamlined, short-finned, dirty greenish-brown fish -- bore little
resemblance to the bettas of today.
In 1840, the King of Siam presented several of his prized fighting fish to a friend of
Theodor Cantor, and he, in turn, gave them to Cantor, a doctor in the Bengal
Medical Service. Although these fish were more colorful than their earlier
counterparts, their predominant colors of olive green, black and red still left much
to be desired. The fin lengths also varied from specimen to specimen.
In 1849, Cantor published an article on the fighting fish he called Macropodus
pugnax, var. It was not until 1909 that C. Tate Regan reexamined this and noted
that pugnax was already a distinct species.
Since the fish had no scientific name, Regan named it Betta splendens, according to
Gene Wolfsheimer, author of Enjoy the Fighting Fish of Siam.
The German aquarists Arnold and Ahl explained that the first living fighters were
introduced into Germany in 1896. They described these imports as short-finned fish
with varied coloring. This same species did not arrive in the United States until
1910, according to Wolfsheimer.
William T. Innes, famed American aquarist, explains that in the early days of the
hobby, Betta splendens had a yellowish brown body with some touches of color and
a few indistinct horizontal lines, moderately sized fins and a rounded tail.
It was not until 1927 that the first brightly-hued, flowing-finned Siamese fighting
fish arrived in the United States, according to Wolfsheimer.
These fish were in a shipment consigned to Frank Locke of San Francisco. He noted
both dark bodied and lighter cream colored variations. Thinking these light-bodied
specimens were a new species, he named them Betta cambodia. But it soon became
evident that this particular variant was only another of the many-hued forms of
Betta splendens. Dr. Hugh M. Smith, renowned author of the Fresh Water Fishes of
Siam or Thailand, made this observation concerning the Cambodian bettas. He
believed these light-bodied fish originated in French Indochina in about 1900.
According to Smith, the Siamese referred to them as "pla kat khmer" or
Cambodian biting fish.
To understand the colors and patterns bettas are bred to have, you must understand
the layers of color involved. David Johnson, in his information on breeding and
keeping bettas, explains that yellow is the bottommost color, then black, then red
and finally blue.
To get a yellow betta, you have to have one that has genes for non-red, non-blue and
non-black. There are three types of blue: metallic blue, royal blue, and blue-green,
with royal blue being the mixed form of the other two.
Cambodian bettas are basically bettas with one body color and another fin color
while butterfly bettas are Cambodians with two fin colors.
Breeders developed golds out of a Cambodian-black cross. Some of the F1 fry were
iridescent green with a sparkle of gold on the pectorals. The F2 fry yielded green
and Cambodian fry with a golden shine on their bodies and fins. Through several
generations of breeding, the red was removed and the gold enhanced.
Tutweiler founded the Tutweiler Butterfly, a Cambodian with fins divided between
white and red, but this strain was never fixed. Jay C. Niel of Michigan founded the
butterflies we have today. He managed to raise cambodian-red-white fry, thus
giving birth to the butterfly bettas. True butterflies should have color at the tips of
the unpaired fins and not closest to the body.
The marbles have their roots in the Indiana State Prison, where they were
developed by Orville Gulley, an inmate. Walt Maurus, founder of Bettas Unlimited,
bought some of Gulley's bettas. Gulley didn't pursue the marble betta, but several
people who acquired his fish kept the line going.
Dr. Gene Lucas, betta specialist, developed opaque white bettas around 1960.
Other traits have been fixed then lost and found again. Paul Kirtley re-created
doubletail blacks in the '80s, and they have been around ever since.
The fixing of color strains and the doubletail traits are largely due to the
International Betta Congress and its members.
Paul Ogles, who has worked with long-finned domestic bettas for many years,
explained that it is safe to say that yellows, marbles, blacks and most doubletails
exist today because there are show classes for them within the IBC.
Betta splendens' flowing fins give them a distinct look unmatched by other tropicals.
The pelvic or ventral fins are found in front of the anus. They are colorful and long,
and contain 5 rays. The dorsal fin, found on the betta's back, is usually very long. If
the betta is a doubletail, or carries the doubletail gene, the dorsal fin will be about
twice as wide as a regular betta's 6 rays.
The caudal peduncle is the rear part of the fish's body to which the tail fin, or
caudal fin, is attached. In the case of a double-tailed betta, sometimes the caudal
peduncle is visibly separated near where the tail fin itself is attached, as if the fish
literally had two separate tails, according to Terri Gianola, manager of the Bettas
WebRing on the World Wide Web.
The caudal fin is generally wide and flowing in the male betta splendens, often
falling as far as the bottom of the anal fin. The caudal fin of the doubletail is literally
split into two separate tail fins. If the separation begins in the caudal peduncle, these
fish have two separate tails.
The anal fin, located on the bottom of the fish, behind its anus, runs the length of the
fish from its anus to its tail. It consists of 25 rays.
The fins closest to the alert eyes and upturned lips of the male betta's face are some
of the most ordinary. These pectoral fins, found behind the gills on the sides of the
fish, often lack color, while other bettas have partial or good coloring of the pectoral
fins. These fins should have 12 rays.
Bettas are not limited to the species splendens. The different species differ in body
shape, fin length and aggressiveness. The Betta imbellis, or "peaceful betta,"
identified by Ladiges in 1975, has shorter fins but still exhibits bright colors. The
males can be kept together and will attempt mock fights, but with little or no
damage resulting.
The short-finned Betta coccina is a timid fish, while the Betta brederi is a
semi-agressive mouthbreeder. The male Betta pugnax also mouthbroods the eggs,
and this species can be kept in a community tank in pairs. The male Betta splendens
tends to his eggs and young in a beautifully built nest of bubbles at the water's
surface.
Regardless of the species, Bettas are anabantids, that is, they have the ability to
breathe atmospheric air using a special organ called the labyrinth.
Bibliography
Gianola, Terri. Bettas and Spawning. http://members.aol.com/terrig2/bettas.htm, 1997.
Johnson, David. The Betta FAQ: Breeding and Keeping Bettas.
http://www.starpoint.net/dave/betfaq.html, 1996.
Lucas, Gene A. Siamese Fighting Fish yearBOOK. Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Neptune, New
Jersey. (No date listed)
Marus, Walt. Bettas: A Complete Introduction. Tropical Fish Hobbyist, 1987.
Ogles, Paul. Email interview. 1997.
Wolfsheimer, Gene. Earl Schdeider, Editor. Enjoy the Fighting Fish From Siam. The Pet
Library LTD, New York, New York. (No date available)
Published in Tropical Fish Hobbyist
February, 1998
Written By Bethany Waldrop Keiper
Do not copy or reproduce without permission of TFH.