Chinese betta fish is a relatively easy species of ornamental fish, which can be divided into two types, round tail and fork tail, distributed in the south of the Yangtze River in the mainland, with the most in southern China, inhabiting small still water bodies such as ditches, ponds and rice fields.
Round-tailed betta, a representative of domestic native fish, widely distributed in the north of the Yangtze River, round-tailed betta fish is relatively simple, the body color is dull, mostly black or close to black dark green, with slender dorsal fin fin and nearly round tail fin, some individuals are covered with spots on the trunk and tail fin, the so-called star spots; In terms of body size, the round-tailed betta fish is oblong in shape, slightly flattened overall, and the adult fish is mostly less than 13 cm long.
Fork-tail betta, also known as paradise fish, bodhisattva fish, flower hand towel, etc., is a more common Chinese betta, mainly distributed in the area south of the Yangtze River in China, the most obvious appearance feature is the deep fork of the tail fin, which is one of the biggest differences between it and the round-tailed betta; In terms of body size, it is similar to the round-tailed betta, it is long and flat, and the adult fish is generally 5~7cm long; The body color is red, blue, and green, with a black stripe on the head, a green patch on the posterior edge of the operculum, and a golden yellow eye socket.
The rest of the artificially bred mutant varieties have different forms and hair colors, so I will not repeat them here.
The following illustration shows a roundtail betta:
The caudal fin is rounded and its body color is close to black
The following illustration shows a forktail betta:
Forktail betta, bright color
The caudal fin is bifurcated
Chinese betta fish have a strong physique, do not choose food, and prefer carnivorous bait (prefer to eat insect larvae and fish insects); They do not have high requirements for the breeding environment, do not have special requirements for water quality, like dark environments, and generally move at night.