History
The Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens, pron.: /ˈbɛtə/) also known as Betta, (particularly in the US[citation needed]), is a popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. The name of the genus is derived from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Malay.[1] The wild ancestors of this fish are native to the rice paddies of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam and are called pla-kad (lit. biting fish) in Thai or trey krem in Khmer.
History
The people of Siam and Malaya (now Thailand and Malaysia) are known to have collected these fish prior to the 19th century.
In the wild, bettas spar for only a few minutes or so before one fish backs off. Bred specifically for fighting, domesticated betta matches can go on for much longer, with winners determined by a willingness to continue fighting. Once one fish retreats, the match is over. Large amounts of money are wagered during these fights, with potential losses as great as a person's home.
Seeing the popularity of these fights, the king of Siam started licensing and collecting these fighting fish. In 1840, he gave some of his prized fish to a man who, in turn, gave them to Dr. Theodor Cantor, a medical scientist. Nine years later, Dr. Cantor wrote an article describing them under the name Macropodus pugnax. In 1909 the ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan, realizing that there was already a species with the name Macropodus pugnax, renamed the domesticated Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens.[3]
Diet
Siamese fighting fish have upturned mouths and are primarily carnivorous surface feeders, although some vegetable matter may be eaten. In the wild, they feed on zooplankton, crustaceans, the larvae of mosquitoes and other water bound insect larvae.[4] Typically, commercial betta pellets are a combination of mashed shrimp meal, wheat flour, fish meal, brine shrimp, bloodworms, and vitamins. These fish will also eat live or frozen bloodworms, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp, daphnia, small freshwater shrimp, and small fishes.
Hatching brine shrimp is a popular method used by many in the aquarium hobby to obtain live food for their Betta fish.[5] Brine shrimp are the easiest live fish food to procure, hatch and cultivate and are particularly nutritious when the nauplii are in their early stages. Some aquarium fish are reluctant to accept dried or flake foods therefore live food is occasionally necessary.
