User:Vulcanalto/Siamese fighting fish

Etymology

Outside Southeast Asia, the name "betta" is used specifically to describe B. splendens, despite the term scientifically applying to the entire genus, which includes B. splendens and at least 72 other species. Betta splendens is more accurately called by its scientific name or "Siamese fighting fish" to avoid confusion with the other members of the genus.

English-speakers sometimes mispronounce betta as "bay-tuh", after the second letter in the Greek alphabet. However, it is believed the name is derived from the Malay word ikan betta, with ikan meaning "fish" and bettah referring to an ancient warrior tribe, which is pronounced "bet-tah". Alternative sources suggests the name Betta splendens is formed from two languages, consisting of Malay for "enduring fish" and the Latin word for shining.

Distribution and habitat

Wherever they are found, Betta splendens generally inhabit shallow bodies of water with abundant vegetation, including marshes, floodplains, and paddy fields. The historic prevalence of rice farming across Southeast Asia, which provided an ideal habitat for bettas, led to their discovery and subsequent domestication by humans. The combination of shallow water and high air temperature causes gases to rapidly evaporate, leading to a significant deficit of oxygen in the betta's natural habitat. This environment likely led to the evolution of the lung-like labyrinth organ, which allows Siamese fighting fish—like all members of the suborder Anabantoidei—to breathe directly from the air. Subsequently, bettas can live and even thrive in harsher environments than other freshwater fish, which in turn leaves them with fewer natural predators and competitors. In the wild, bettas thrive at a fairly low population density of 1.7 individuals per square meter.

Conservation status and habitat threats

Due to their popularity, Siamese fighting fish are highly abundant in captivity. However, in the wild, betta habitats are threatened by chemical and agricultural run off, in addition to the contamination of human medication residue into aquatic ecosystems from the sewage system. Such contamination can also alter the reproductive behavior of the species by decreasing hate rate and increasing the likelihood of fathers eating their own eggs. Due to the expansion of palm oil plantation in Southeast Asia, wild bettas are also facing habitat loss.

A few wild specimens are categorized by the IUCN as vulnerable, indicating the species is likely to become endangered without conservation efforts. Among the endangered species includes Betta miniopinna and Betta Persephone. The primary threats are habitat destruction and pollution, caused by urban and agricultural development across central Thailand.

History

Information on precisely how and when Siamese fighting fish were first domesticated and brought out of Asia is sparse. Genetic analysis implies that bettas are among the oldest domesticated fish species, with domestication starting at least 1,000 years ago. Additional evidence from DNA sampling suggests bettas may have been bred for fighting since the 13th century. Over time, this led to the diverse genetics of modern domestic and wild bettas.

Fighting fish

Some people in Malaysia and Thailand are known to have collected wild bettas at least by the 19th century, observing their aggressive nature and pitting them against each other in gambling matches akin to cockfights. Due to the difference in genetics from domesticated bettas being originally bred for fighting, captive ornamental species tends to be more aggressive that wild betta species.

In the wild, betta spar for only a few minutes before one fish retreats; domesticated betta, namely Plakat bettas, are bred specifically for heightened aggression, and can engage for much longer, with winners determined by a willingness to continue fighting; once a fish retreats, the match is over. Fights to the death were rare, so bets were placed on the bravery of the fish rather than its survival.

The popularity of these fights garnered the attention of king of Siam (Thailand) who regulated and taxed the matches and collected fighting fish of his own. In 1840, he gave some of his prized fish to Danish physician Theodore Edward Cantor, who worked in the Bengal medical service. Nine years later, Cantor published the first recorded article describing these fish, giving them the name Macropodus pugnax. In 1909, British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan found there was a related species already named Macropodus pugnax, and thus renamed the domesticated Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, or "splendid fighter".

In the aquarium

Water parameter

As tropical fish, bettas prefer a water temperature of around 75–82 °F (24–28 °C)

Colors

Wild bettas exhibit strong colours only when agitated. Over the centuries, breeders have been able to make this coloration permanent, and a wide variety of hues breed true. Colours among captive bettas include red, orange, yellow, blue, steel blue, turquoise/green, black, pastel, opaque white, and multi-coloured. Recent evidence suggest blue-colored males may show higher levels of aggression than red-colored males. On the other hand, female bettas may have a preference for red-colored mates as opposed to their blue counterparts.

Reproduction and early development

If interested in a female, male bettas will flare their gills, spread their fins and twist their bodies in a dance-like performance. Receptive females will respond by darkening in color and developing vertical lines known as "breeding bars". Males build bubble nests of various sizes and thicknesses at the surface of the water, which interested females may examine. Most do this regularly even if there is no female present.^{[citation needed]}

Plants or rocks that break the surface often form a base for bubble nests. During courtship, the male betta may exhibit aggressive behavior towards the female by acts of chasing or nipping at her fins.The act of spawning itself is called a "nuptial embrace", for the male wraps his body around the female; around 10–40 eggs are released during each embrace, until the female is exhausted of eggs. With each deposit of eggs, the male releases milt into the water, and fertilization takes place externally. During and after spawning, the male uses his mouth to retrieve sinking eggs and place them in the bubble nest; during mating some females assist their partner, but more often will simply devour all the eggs she manages to catch. Once the female has released all of her eggs, she is chased away from the male's territory, as she will likely eat the eggs. If she is not removed from the tank, she will most likely be killed by the male if viewed as a threat. (NEW CITATION)

The eggs remain in the male's care. He carefully keeps them in his bubble nest, making sure none fall to the bottom, repairing the bubble nest as needed. Incubation lasts for 24–36 hours; newly hatched larvae remain in the nest for the next two to three days until their yolk sacs are fully absorbed. Afterwards, the fry leave the nest and the free-swimming stage begins. In this first period of their lives, B. splendens fry are totally dependent on their gills; the labyrinth organ, which allows the species to breathe atmospheric oxygen, typically develops at three to six weeks of age, depending on the general growth rate, which can be highly variable. B. splendens can reach sexual maturity in as early as 4–5 months.^{[ (NEW CITATION)}Typically, the morphological differences between males and females can be noticed around two months after hatching. During development, betta fry can be fed either commercial artificial feeds, or live moving prey, which tends to be favored more. Examples of live feed for betta fry include baby brine shrimp, water fleas, and mosquito larvae. Although common fed to fish fry, boiled egg yolks are not preferred by the fish.

Breeding Facility

Today, Southeast Asia dominates the industry of breeding and distribution of Siamese fighting fish globally. Initially, male and female fry are raised together in communal tanks up until males begin to display aggression at about 4-5 months of age. Males are then kept isolated in a half-pint liquor flask, where hundreds of these pints may be arranged tightly packed on the ground in the breeding facility. Daily feeding of usually bloodworms are dispensed into each flask. At the shoulder of each flask, there typically a cut to allow water to flow out for an easy water change. Meanwhile, females may be kept in communal tanks until shipping day. Roughly 100,000 male bettas are shipped each week from Thailand to countries around the world.