Betta splendensA brief history of the Betta splendens speciesHow'd that fancy pet store betta come from that plain, dull......Betta splendens of the wild? Betta splendens is, (in case I haven't drummed this into your head enough already), a species of the genus Betta.Betta splendens is the scientific name for the fish commonly called Betta that you see in your local pet store. So next time someone refers to that beautiful "Betta", you can impress them with your knowledge of the scientific name, Betta splendens.
He'll either be hanging from a small basket inside a larger aquarium, or in a small container of his own, perhaps lined up with other beta fish, and will look something like this...
 ...and he'll always be by himself. Where did the ornamental beta fish of today come from?He's as true a B. splendens as his wild and wooly cousin (well, not wooly, just wild) found in ...... murky waters of the ...Malay Peninsula and rice paddies of Thailand.Wild B. splendens is perfectly at home in the standing, slow-flowing water and shallow, stagnant rain pools of his natural habitat. Unlike his sophisticated cousin, the pet store variety B. splendens, wild B. splendens are plain in color and short finned. Who discovered their aggressive nature and why they decided to use them for sport, I don't know. But in their native countries, they were brought into town and contested in much the same way as *cock fights*. And then... The first betta fish specimens were introduced to Europe......around 1874. They were called Siamese Fighting Fish. Pierre Carbonnier, a famous French ornamental fish breeder, began breeding them around that time.How did they do that ...... take a giant leap from *plain jane B. splendens* to *ornamental B. splendens*?Because spawning and gestation are so quick, AND because the species is so easily made to spawn, many generations can be bred in a short period of time, a breeder's dream. What would have taken mother nature centuries, has been accomplished in only decades. The plain, short finned, wild Betta splendens, has been selectively bred to produce the elegant, long finned ornamental variety you see today. The beta of today have been selectively bred for ...... color as well as fin length and can be found in flamboyant, breathtaking shades of crimson, lavender, magenta, cobalt blue, Prussian blue, and many combinations as well.
Betta fish color is our next subject, so click here to continue ...
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