SOLID COLORS: a solid color betta has only one color (ideally :) ). There are many solids colors. For the sake of simplicity I sorted them from lighter shade to darkest shade:
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cellophane: basically has no color. Fins are translucid and body is flesh. The flesh color is due to the fact that one can see the tissues and organs which are flesh colored. The skin itself does not have any pigments. |
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white opaque: this color was created by Dr. Gene Lucas, who played around with several genes until the first solid white betta came to be. All opaques will have varying degrees of red washes as they age, but when young, they can be immaculate white. |
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yellow: also known as "non-red" all yellows also carry one of the three iridescent color (steel, royal or green). |
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orange: this strain was first created by Gilbert Limhengco and is one of the latest new solid colors. Oranges are a bit more red than what an orange would look like, maybe more like a dark tangerine color. |
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red: normal reds have some black pigment on the body giving them more of a bicolor look, with a redish/blackish body and red fins. However most breeders now work with extended red which are intense red from head to tail, including the pectoral fins :). |
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steel blue: this is one of the three iridescent colors. The blue is lighter and more "cold" looking, like a greyish blue. |
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royal blue: this is the second of the three iridescent colors. Royal blue is much darker and has almost a purple feel to it. Best see under a flashlight. |
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green: this is the third of the three iridescent colors. Green is near impossible to detect without a flashlight. Many green bettas might look black or royal blue at first, but under a light their iridescent green is revealed. |
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turquoise: everybody is always arguing about this color so let us just say that turquoise is a color between blue and green, some claim it is not green, while others claim it is nothing but green. |
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black: there are currently two different genes that cause a betta to look black. Hence you will always see either "melano" or "fertile" (aka "lace") associated with the word black in describing a black strain. Both black melanos and black lace (or fertile black) look black. |
BI COLORS: a bicolor betta has two solid colors. The body will be one color while the fins will be another.
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cambodian: the body is flesh and the fins are usually red (traditional cambodian), although blue and black cambodians also exist. (rare) |
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chocolate: the body is dark, usually black but sometimes dark blue and the fins are yellow |
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pastel: there are several variations, such as green pastel or blue pastel, but in a nutshell, the body is white and the fins are green or blue, etc... |
PATTERNED BETTAS: a betta with several color displayed in an organized manner. Bettas with a bunch of random colors (which most pet store bettas are) are not patterned bettas and are called multicolors.
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butterfly: The fin is clearly divided in two section: half of the fin is one color and the other half another color. For example the black/white BF betta to the left has fins that are 50% black and 50% white (a very rare combination) and comes from my Dreamcatcher strain. |
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marble: The body and fins have blotches of color over a flesh or any other light color solid background. For example, black blotches over flesh color or over white. The photo to the left is that of a red marble from my apache strain. |
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piebald: (aka "white face") The betta has a flesh face, regardless of his body color. To the left, a steel blue piebald from my blue apache strain. |
MULTICOLOR BETTAS: a betta with a bunch of random colors ( almost all pet store bettas are multicolors but we often refer to them as "mutts" :)) )
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multicolor: (aka "multi") The betta has several colors mixed in randomly. They do not breed true, meaning the fry will not look like the parent. Trying to work these pet store bettas is a pure waste of time (I know, I've tried!! :) ) Left: a pet store betta with a veil tail displays lavender, red, blue and white. |
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