Siamese fighting fish

Some information on “Bubbles” — Sienna’s new pet fish.

The Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) is one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish, native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia and called pla-kad in its native Thailand. It is a member of the gourami family (family Osphronemidae) of order Perciformes, but was formerly classified among the Anabantidae. Although there are nearly 50 other types of bettas, Betta splendes is the most popular species among aquarium hobbyists, particularly in the United States, and is commonly referred to with the imprecise name “betta.”

B. splendens grows to an overall length of approximately 6 cm (~ 2.3″ in). Bettas are notable for their colors and tail shapes. The natural coloration of B. splendens is a dull green and brown, and the fins of wild specimens are relatively short. However, brilliantly-colored and longer-finned varieties have been developed through selective breeding.

And now some photos. First, the little tank they sold us.. then the big Brita filter tank I put him in once I learned the small tanks are cruel.

Click thumbnails for slightly bigger images.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 1:50 pm and is filed under 1st Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.