Introduction to Bettas: A Crash Course For Beginners

[SilverStallion]

Welcome to the world of Betta.

Though this thread, you will be able to understand a little more about this special family of labyrinth fish.

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Classification
The word Betta is the genera name of a group of fish which many of us are familiar with. This is how the system works.

Kingdom: Animals (Animalia)
Phylum: Chordates (Chordata)
Class: Bony Fishes (Osteichthyes)
Order: Percoids (Perciformes)
Family: Belontiidea
Sub Family: Macropodinea
Genera: Betta
Species: splenden, imbellis, smaragdina

Thus a species name is usually recorded as Betta splendens or Betta imbellis.

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Morphology of a Betta


Morphology of a Betta splenden

You can see from the above diagram, the betta, like any other fishes have a set of organs which help is fish to move, sense and most importantly, to survive in its harsh habitat.

Mouth: for feeding, fighting and nesting

Eyes: for sight, eg. distance and colour judgement

Nostrils: for smell

Gill cover: primarily is for protecting the gill structures, but some bettas have evolved to use them as a organ to size up with other males and attract females. Size of the gill reflects on the size of the fish as a whole.


Scales: Outer covering of the fish which act as a armor to resist bites form another fish or prevent damage from knocks and bumps. It is also a barrier between internal tissues and microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi.

Lateral line: They are actually row/s of tiny pits found along the body of the fish. Bettas have a pair too, one row on each side of the body. This special organ behaves a little like a pair of ears of a human, sensing vibration in the water. Thus, they are able to know what's around them and how close are they.

Fins: One of the most important structure of the body and serve many functions. Mainly, they are use for swimming and steering the fish around it's environment. They can also be used to attract mates or intimitate other males.

Fishes is able to move in 3 differenet dimensions, up and down, left and right, forward and backward. This is made possible with the help of the fins and the swimming bladder.


This is the Pitch. The ventral fin and anal fin allows the fish to rise, stay level or dive.


Next is Roll. With the help of the dorsal, pectoral, ventral and anal fin, the fish can roll on its own axis.


Lastly is the Yaw This involves all the fins moving is a certain combination.

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What makes a fish a labyrinth fish?
All fishes have gills as their respiratory system. Water, together with the oxygen, will enter through the mouth of the fish and gill structures. The blood vessels in the gill filaments is able to perform gas exchange through a thin layer of cells using diffusion. where oxygen from the water enters the blood and carbon dioxide in the blood exits into the water. Wonderful mechanism isn't it?

Since many labyrinth fishes make their home in muddy, oxygen deprived waters, their ancestors begin to evolve a special breathing accessory called Labyrinth.

The labyrinth is a air-breathing organ with have a sponge like structure and is able to extract oxygen directly from air instead of water. It works very much same as a human lung.

So what happens is that when you see your betta getting a gulp of air from the surface, that collection of air will be push into labyrinth and gas exchange takes place. Once the amount of oxygen in the collection is low, the fish will rise to the surface, expel the air in the "lungs" and take a new gulp of fresh air. To make this task easier, the mouth type of the fish evolve to become superior, where the bottom jaw is longer the the top half and the mouth is pointing upwards. Even when the mouth is close, there is still a gap to aid in breathing.


Picture of respiratory system of Betta splenden

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So here ends the simple introduction to Bettas. Feel free to discuss with me about the topic.

The pictures above is taken or drawn by me, so do ask for permission or credit it of you're gonna use it. Thanks ^_^

Angel signing off~

Good job sis!
Btw, how ya take the last pic?
Should add to the FAQ..

[SilverStallion]

Originally Posted by Iron

Good job sis!
Btw, how ya take the last pic?
Should add to the FAQ..

few days ago, one of my betta die of old age, so i was curious and make a disection. with the picture, i was inspired to make this thread.

Angel

[XRTG]

Originally Posted by SilverStallion

few days ago, one of my betta die of old age, so i was curious and make a disection. with the picture, i was inspired to make this thread.

Angel

wonderful thread. your betta died of old age? how old is it?

thanks

[SilverStallion]

Originally Posted by XRTG

wonderful thread. your betta died of old age? how old is it?

thanks

roughly 1 year and 7 months. one of my very early batch of spawn. it's a MG ST

Very Commendable. You did a good jog, Angel. Love the art work!

Great info, esp to any beginners or even to one who has kept these fishes before.


Cheers,