Species

  Sherolyn-Basement Bettas For the past several years, both authors have extensively worked on metallics in their breeding programs. Their experiences and thoughts on the metallic trait were written down in several articles (“Copper gold” (2003)[1]; “Metallics and Masks” (2005) [2]; “Understanding metallic genetics” (2006) [3]). Both authors decided to team up in order to share their thoughts and …

“Dragons’’ – A new era in the world of ‘‘bling-bling’’ bettas! Read More »

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas Macrostoma, the Treasure of Brunei By: Victoria Parnell From the land of Brunei in the northern part of the island of Borneo comes a truly remarkable wild betta.  Betta Macrostoma, male. Photo by Hermanus Also known as the Brunei Beauty and Ikan Pelaga Brunei, the Betta Macrostoma(literally “big mouth”) is a mouthbrooding species …

Macrostoma Read More »

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas Wild Bettas are usually considered any type of Betta that is found in the wild. Wild Bettas are extreme jumpers and will jump several inches out of the water. When keeping wilds, always have a tight fitting lid, and leave the water line a few inches below what you normally would have it …

Wild Type Imbellis Read More »

Wild Betta’s are considered to be the true natives of the betta world. What most people consider the common fish store betta, or Betta Splendens is an ancestor of the Wild native bettas.

Its… wild.

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas Here the tail rays extend beyond the tail edge, producing a crown-like appearance. How much the rays may extend depends on the genetic makeup of the fish. The crowntail trait can be found in betas of any tail type and shape. For instance it can be seen in VT, D, SD, HM (CTHM …

Crowntail Genetics Read More »

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas Figure #1: A schematic representation of a flexible fin ray. (From Laforest, L., et al. 1998. Development 125:4175-4184). Figure #2: Tracing of dorsal fins from (A) a wild Betta splendens, (B) a short-finned fighter, (C) a show plakat, and (D) the long- finned show Betta. Figure #3: Tracing of dorsal fins from long-finned …

Dorsal Designs Read More »

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas Counting the number of rays at the base of the dorsal usually gives a pretty reliable incidation whether a fish is carrying DT or not.  When we look at the number of rays at the base of the dorsal of a wildtype Betta splendens we usually can count 8-10 rays. For example: In more …

Doubletail Gene Read More »

Sherolyn-Basement Bettas This tail type has a few typical characteristics: (1) the caudal consists out of two lobes, (2) the dorsal has twice as much rays than the dorsal of a normal singletail betta and (3) a slightly shorter body length. The ideal doubletail has is symmetrical and has two equal tail lobes with a …

Doubletail Genetics Read More »