Emerald fighting fish

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Emerald fighting fish
male emerald fighting fish

male emerald fighting fish

Systematics
Order : Climbing fish species (Anabantiformes)
Subordination : Labyrinth fish (Anabantoidei)
Family : Osphronemidae
Subfamily : Macropodusinae
Genre : Betta
Type : Emerald fighting fish
Scientific name
Betta smaragdina
Ladiges , 1972
Emerald fighting fish couple

The emerald fighting fish ( Betta smaragdina ) is a labyrinth fish from northern and eastern Thailand .

Appearance

The species is characterized by the eponymous, iridescent emerald green shimmering scales and fin rays of the males. The basic body color is a dark brown, the fin skins are colored a dark red, as are the ventrals , the tips of which end in a strong white. The fins of the males are quite large, the rear of the anal is often pointed. The females have fewer shiny scales, and the body and fins are predominantly dark brown. When the females are ready to spawn, several beige-white cross bands are drawn over the otherwise dark-colored body. The fright coloration of both sexes is a light beige, the fins are almost transparent and two to three dark brown longitudinal stripes run through the body from the eye to the base of the tail.

Reproduction

The emerald fighting fish is one of the foam nest-building Betta species, whereby the males are typically responsible for brood care. Courtship and mating are an imposing spectacle in which the male shows all its colors and woos the female with fully spread fins and splayed gill covers, until it follows him under his previously completed foam nest , which the male creates from air bubbles coated with a special saliva secretion Built water surface. As is typical for all Betta species, mating takes place in an embrace of the partner, where the sex products are released. The female then becomes paralyzed while the male uses his mouth to convey the fertilized eggs into the foam nest.

The young fish hatch out of their eggs after 24-36 hours, under constant supervision by the male, and then hang for another 48-72 hours in the foam nest until they can finally swim free and are thus released into independence.

Aquaristics

Emerald fighting fish only have low demands on water quality and temperature, but they are sensitive to excessive organic pollution in the water. A tank with 56 l is sufficient for a couple or a trio of one male and two females, if you want to keep several males together, it is advisable to choose a larger tank so that the animals have enough space to define their territories. In any case, the pool should be well planted and equipped with numerous hiding spots; the lighting should ideally be dampened by a dense floating plant cover.

The emerald fighting fish is only suitable to a limited extent for socialization with other species because it is naturally shy. It is therefore advisable to put the animals in a tank with only very calm and less active species. A species pool would be ideal, in which the natural beauty and the highly interesting behavior of Betta smaragdina are shown to their best advantage.

Betta smaragdina is a relatively calm and reserved species. Although sexually mature males are quite aggressive towards one another, this behavior is by far not as pronounced as in the closely related species Betta splendens . The males fight each other to the point of death only in a confined space and with no alternatives, so that it is quite possible to keep several male specimens of Betta smaragdina in appropriately large and well-structured aquariums .

literature

  • Her hobby "Fighting Fish - Wild Forms" by R. Donoso-Büchner & Dr. J. Schmidt, ISBN 3-933646-09-X
  • "Labyrinth fish, pike heads and snakehead fish" by H. Pinter, ISBN 3-8001-7093-0

Web links

Commons : Emerald Fighting Fish ( Betta smaragdina )  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files