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Just purchased a new betta - gorgeous little guy. Found him at one of those "big box" pet stores, you know the ones, where they keep shelves and shelves of bettas. Poor little guy was way back in the back, in the dark. ]
His cup was really dirty, and he was in that nasty blue water. Wasn't until I got him into his new home that I noticed that a good chunk of the end of his large tail fin is completely clear. Is this a "betta quirk" or some sort of fin problem I haven't seen before? He doesn't seem bothered by the "dead spot" (as I originally thought it might be). Don't want to let this go if it's bad, adds a bit of interest to him, though, if it's not. Any ideas?

clear or partially clear fins are actually possible as a color pattern and also when fins heal sometimes they grow back clear

Yeah, sometimes after bettas recover from fin rot (which he probably had from the sound of his environment!) the edges or sometimes even the entire area that was infected turns white or clear, depending on the bettas colouration.

Sometimes it recovers its old colour, sometimes it doesn't.

I think it makes a betta look a bit different, and gives it character.

to prevent fin rots, add some salt to the water

i use betta max and betta fix to heal my bettas when they aren't looking good. sometimes it works.

AmandaLou, its possible your betta has a "butterfly" pattern, where the endsof the fin are completely void of colour.

Lack of colour is not a illness although sometimes damaged fins can regrow clear.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

o yea that completely pass my mind that it could be a butterfly pattern.