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I have an old TFH back number (November 1977) that covers some of the intricacies of Betta varieties. I was wondering if anyone here knew of a website that covered the details of classifying fancy Betta varieties. Only it would be nice to know what all the Betta fans in the chat room were talking about when they started name dropping


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Cali, here is some good info about fins, colors and more. Great all around site.
http://www.bettatalk.com/learn_about_bettas.htm

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

Colours:
http://www.ontariobetta.envy.nu/colours.htm
Fin types: http://www.ontariobetta.envy.nu/fin.htm

bettas come in every color of the rainbow and some. as for tails the basic are:
st=single tail
dt= double tail
ct= crown tail
det=delta tail
hm= halfmoon
sht=short tail
veil tails

more advance are
drct=double ray crown tail
pinch tail
double tail crown tail
short fin crown tail
over halfmoon
upper sword
lyer tail
triple tail
double split tail
4 pointed double tail
ddr
long fin (females)
there might be more.

http://www.bettatalk.com can have info.

There are far less actual RECOGNISED tail types than are listed in most places.

Basically, you have crowns, doubletails, and superdelta/halfmoon.

Veils are very out of fashion and are not recognised as a valid tail type in most official capacities but er, they do exist, so i think its just a snobby thing.

Oh, and plakat/short tail.. i'm starting to see it written as PK. That is mainly by the Thai's, who are taking the first letters of the traditional words Pla Kat.



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

Thanks everyone. Links duly bookmarked. Will study more intensively in due course

Incidentally, one of those links mentioned the opaque white Betta as being the product of Dr Gene Lucas. Wouldn't you know it, not only is he featured in my November 1977 TFH Betta article, but it mentions some of the steps he used to create the opaque white!

I quote (TFH, November 1977, A Brief History Of Creation: The Marble, Pastel And Opaque White Bettas by Dr Sue Liebetrau, page 10):

Dr Lucas is the creator of the opaque white Betta. In the late 1960s he began experimenting with an 'opaque' stock that developed a creamy coating on the skin. When he decided to produce a strain of white Bettas, Dr Lucas realised that he would need to combine several characteristics: Cambodian, non-red (remember, this was before Cellophanes had been studied), spread iridescence, steel blue colour and the opaque colouring ... quite a challenge, even for a geneticist!

The article, though old, covers a range of breeding issues, including pattern stability in some Betta strains (or lack thereof) and some of the pathways leading to various strains such as the marbles and the pastel hued Bettas.


Last edited by Calilasseia at 24-Apr-2005 18:13

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002