
A useful distinction is that while the generic name Betta is italicized and capitalized, when used as a common name it is usually neither italicized nor capitalized.

In fact, as of 2017, around 73 species are classified within the genus Betta. splendens) are frequently sold in the United States simply as "bettas". Mouthbrooding species tend to exhibit less sexual dimorphism, perhaps because they do not need to defend a territory as the bubble-nesters do. However it was unable to establish a correlation with any of three habitat variables studied: whether a species was found in lowland or highland streams, whether it was found in peat swamp forests, and whether it was found in water with fast or slow currents. Ī phylogenetic study published in 2004 concluded tentatively that bubble-nesting was the ancestral condition in Betta, and that mouthbrooding has evolved on more than one occasion in the history of the genus. The mouthbrooding species are sometimes called "pseudo bettas", and are sometimes speculated to have evolved from the nest-builders in an adaptation to their fast-moving stream habitats. splendens, while others are mouthbrooders, such as B. The bettas exhibit two kinds of spawning behaviour: some build bubble nests, such as B.

This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles. īettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. chanoides to 14 cm (5.5 in) in the Akar betta ( B. splendens, commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish and often kept as an aquarium pet.Īll Betta species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in B. Betta / ˈ b ɛ t ə/ is a large genus of small, active, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes, in the gourami family (Osphronemidae).
