Bettas are located in southeast Asia. Thailand and Indonesia are the places Betta fish originated from. They are found inhabiting shallow waters and rice paddies. The temperature of the water is usually warm.
Bettas are different in the wild then the domestic ones.
In the wild bettas do not have long fins and tails, but instead they have short tails and fins. Their body length is not as long in the wild either. The aggressiveness of a betta in the wild is greater then the ones that are domesticated. In fact wild bettas are even stronger and more fit for competition and figths amoung other wild betta fish. The most common colors in the wild are red, blue, and green. They are not usually seen with mixed colors in the wild. Size of most bettas range from 2 to 3 inches long(about 5 to 8 centimeters), including the wild bettas, which range on the smaller side.
Classification of bettas is Chordata for phylum, Vertebrata for subphylum, Osteichthyes for class, Perciformes for order, and Anabantidae for family. Their scientific name is Betta Splendens. They are a varity of colors and have a range of fin types. A special organ, known as the labyrinth, allows Bettas to take in oxygen from the air and not from the water. They still need to take oxygen in from the water using their gills, because this ogran only gives them an alternate source of oxygen. Because of this organ, it allows Bettas to live in water with only a little source of oxygen.
Bettas will eat many kinds of insects, like flies and mosquitos. The males are more colorful than the females. The males also produce bubbles which they use to build bubble nest. When both the bettas mate and the female lays the eggs, the male and the female will carry the eggs to the bubble nest. The eggs are protected in the bubble nest from environmental conditions. The male will stay with the nest and protect the eggs from any dangers. Within a 24 to 30 day span(about a month) several hundred young fry will hatch out of the eggs. The male will continue to raise the young until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
Males like to keep to their territory and are aggressive to other males that invade their territory, meaning they will fight the invading Betta. Because of their aggressive behavior, people in Thailand breed them for competition. They have two male Bettas placed in the same tank together. They watch them fight for nearly 6 hours and gamble on the winning fish. |
