Betta

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This article is about the entire genus Betta. For the species Betta splendens which is often called simply "betta", see Siamese fighting fish.
Betta
Betta albimarginata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Osphronemidae
Genus: Betta
Bleeker, 1850
Species

B. persephone
B. picta - spotted betta
B. pugnax - Penang betta
B. splendens - Siamese fighting fish

and others (see text)

Betta (play /ˈbɛtə/) is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The type species is B. picta, the spotted betta.[1] By far the best known Betta species, however, is B. splendens, the Siamese fighting fish.

Contents

History

Accessorizing with fish was not what the people of Siam originally had in mind when they started collecting Bettas prior to the 1800s. Known as Siamese Fighting Fish, the Bettas of that time were not the same elegant fish that we see today. With much smaller fins and a dirty greenish brown hue, they were bred for competitive fighting and not for the magnificent finnage and colors that they are now famous for. Native to Siam (now Thailand), Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and parts of China, these fish became accustomed to water temperatures that were often above 80 degrees.

For the children of Malaya, in southern China, collecting these Siamese fighting fish was a favorite pastime. Able to catch 50 fish in an hour, from the paddy fields, these children would conduct fish fights in order to determine who the village champion was. Usually, it was the biggest fish that they had. Once the wounds healed on the prize-winning fish, he would go into competition again against a new opponent. This pastime diminished significantly when agricultural chemicals and mechanized plowing were introduced for the harvesting of the paddy fields. The fields were not the only place where one could find Bettas however. They were also living in ditches, stagnant ponds and gentle flowing streams.

Known as pla kat, which means tearing or biting fish, the wild Bettas generally would have short-lasting fights of only a few minutes or so. However, once the Siamese started to breed them specifically for fighting, these matches could go on for hours. The winner was determined, not by the wounds that he inflicted, but instead by his willingness to continue fighting. The losing fish retreated and the match was over. Damage to the fish generally was nothing more than torn fins, with serious damage rarely seen. However, damage to the families of the men betting on the fish was sometimes substantial, with potential losses as great as his money, his house and, on occasion, his wife or other family members!

Seeing the obvious popularity of these fights, the King of Siam started licensing and collecting these fighting fish. In 1840, he gave some of his prized fish to a man who, in turn, gave them to Dr. Theodor Cantor, a medical scientist from Bangor. Describing these fish in an article nine years later, Dr. Cantor gave them the name Macropodus Pugnax. In 1909, Mr. Tate Regan renamed those Betta Splendens, noting that there already was a species with the name that Dr. Cantor had given to them. It is believed that Mr. Regan got the name from a warrior-like tribe of people named "Bettah".

By the last quarter of the 1800's, the Betta Splendens were introduced into France and Germany and in 1910 they were first seen in the United States. Seventeen years later, Frank Locke of San Francisco received his first Bettas. They were light-colored with brilliant red fins and he gave them the name Betta Cambodia. With the variety of colors and color combinations that were being introduced, these fish were considered to be different species, thus a long list of alternate names was created.

Today, Betta Splendens are the most popular fish with breeders in the U.S. and Japan. Commercial Betta farms in Malaya and Singapore breed both display Splendens and fighting Splendens with the breeding of the fighters producing the most revenue. Fighters are often discarded following their matches and new ones are bought, whereas display Splendens do not need to be replaced for quite some time.

Name

There is often much confusion in terminology regarding these fish. Siamese fighting fish, B. splendens, are frequently sold in the United States simply as bettas. Fish fanciers are thus often unaware that, as of 2006, there are around 65 species classified within the genus Betta. A further source of confusion is that while the generic name Betta is italicized and capitalized, when used as a common name it is usually not capitalized.[2] The common name of Betta pugnax, for example, is thus Penang betta.

Siamese fighting fish, B. splendens, is often referred to as betta in the U.S., leading to some confusion

The name Betta (or betta) is pronounced /ˈbɛtə/.[2] That is, the first part is the same as the English word bet. By confusion with the name of the Greek letter beta, the name is often pronounced /ˈbeɪtə/ in American English, and may be misspelled with one t. The name of the genus is unrelated to that of the Greek letter, being derived from the Malay word ikan betah ("persistent fish").[3]


Characteristics

Purple female Betta splendens

All the Betta species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 inch) total length in B. chanoides to 12.5 cm (5 inches) in the Akar betta (B. akarensis).[1]

Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air thanks to a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.[4]

The various bettas can be divided into two groups, based on their spawning behaviour: some build bubble nests, like B. splendens, while others are mouthbrooders, like B. picta. The mouthbrooding species are sometimes called "pseudo bettas", and are sometimes speculated to have evolved from the nest-builders in an adaptation to their fast-moving stream habitats.[5]

Behavior

The betta behavior that resulted in the sport of Siamese Fish Fighting is still a distinguishing trait of the Betta, despite the customized breeding that defines the various types of this species. A warrior by nature, their aggressive behavior appears to stem from the male Bettas need to protect his territory. For this reason, males should be kept separate at all times. However, both male and female Bettas adapt well to community tanks, provided that there is only one male Betta in residence. Take precaution not to place them in a tank with other fish that are aggressive, because Bettas tend to get 'picked on' by the others, which could result in injury to him due to the nipping of the other fish. Females, on the other hand, tend not to be antagonistic at all and will do well when placed together. A pecking order will be established in the community tank. One fish will establish itself as dominant and the others will act in submission to the ALPHA fish. As long as there are no new additions placed in the tank, there will be peace.

Behavior to humans

Talk to any Betta enthusiat and you will learn that Bettas each have their own personalities. They are friendly, curious, and will get to know their caregivers. Some enjoy swimming into a hand and being raised out of the water to be stroked. In addition to their graceful beauty, these, these personality traits are what make Bettas ideal pets for people of all ages.

Mating

Male Betta fish build bubble nests when they are ready to mate. The male, who will squeeze the female to release the eggs. This is potentially fatal to the female. The eggs float into the bubble nest. Once they are done mating, the male will tend the eggs. The male will keep the eggs clean and also has a chemical in his saliva that releases the baby fish from their eggs. The baby fish will grow quickly, and soon the males all have to be put in separate containers when they start to fight.


Habitat

The Betta is native freshwater fish from Thailand (formerly Siam) and Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea).[6] Wild Betta can often be found in a small pond, river and drain. As Betta can survive in a low-oxygen level of water, Betta can live anywhere and mostly in Asia.

Diet

Naturally, wild Betta fish is easy to survive as it can eat almost anything in its living environment, such as living worms, larvae of mosquitoes or other insects and even smaller fishes. This is because their living environment basically is in poor condition, so Betta species have no much choice for them to choose their food.

A red female Betta splendens

Feeding

Betta fish are not big eaters but should be fed a small amount once a day to once every other day.[7] Betta is easy to feed, they can be fed floating flake food, freeze dried blood worms, live black worms, frozen brine shrimp or betta pellets that can be bought from an aquarium store.

Betta pellets are a type of small, round edible pellets that can be fed on most betta species. Betta pellets are made out of crude protein, crude lipids, crude fiber, crude ash, moisture, phosphorus, carbohydrates, certain vitamins, and other ingredients. [8]

Conservation

While many Betta species are common and B. splendens is ubiquitous in the aquarium trade, other bettas are threatened. The IUCN Red List classifies several Betta species as Vulnerable. In addition, B. livida is Endangered, and B. miniopinna, B. persephone, and B. spilotogena are Critically Endangered.[9]

The United Nations Environment Programme lists an unconfirmed species, Betta cf. tomi, as having become extinct in Singapore between 1970 and 1994.[10] This likely refers to the extirpated Singaporean population of B. tomi, which continues to exist in the wild in Indonesia and Malaysia as well as in captivity; the Red List classifies it as Vulnerable.[11][12]

Species

A female Betta splendens

The currently described Betta species can be grouped into complexes for conservation purposes. (This grouping of species makes no claim at representing a phylogenetic reality.) The complexes of the associated species are:[1] [13] [14]

There are also several known populations without a valid species status, like Betta sp. machachai from the splendens complex. These may be described as valid species in the future.

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Species of Betta in FishBase. March 2006 version.
  2. ^ a b "Betta". American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed.). http://www.bartleby.com/61/78/B0217800.html. Retrieved 2006-06-29. 
  3. ^ http://www.fishbase.org/ComNames/CommonNameSummary.php?autoctr=6989
  4. ^ Marcus Song, Caring for Betta Fish ?????????(Lulu Press, 2006). ISBN 1-4116-9365-5
  5. ^ Fernando, Yohan. "Betta edithae - a Pseudo Betta?". International Betta Congress Species Maintenance Program. http://ibc-smp.org/articles/edithae_pseudo.html. Retrieved 2006-06-30. 
  6. ^ http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2008/03/betta-habitat.html Retrieved 2011-12-14
  7. ^ http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Betta_Male.pdf
  8. ^ http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Quality_Fish_Food.html Retrieved 2011-12-14
  9. ^ "2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. they are amazing.... -> male betta". http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Retrieved 2006-06-30. 
  10. ^ "Extinctions since 1970". United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 2006. http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/latenews/extinct.html. Retrieved 2006-07-01. 
  11. ^ Kottelat, M. (1996). "Betta tomi". 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/2778/all. Retrieved 2006-07-01. 
  12. ^ "Betta tomi". International Betta Congress Species Maintenance Program. http://www.ibc-smp.org/species/tomi.html. Retrieved 2006-07-01. 
  13. ^ "Species Complex Management". International Betta Congress Species Maintenance Program. http://ibc-smp.org/Pages/complex.html. Retrieved 2006-07-01. 
  14. ^ "Betta". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=172610. Retrieved 30 June 2006. 
  15. ^ Tan Heok Hui (2009). "Betta pardalotos, a new species of fighting fish (Teleostei: Osphronemidae) from Sumatra, Indonesia". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57 (2): 501–504. 
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