FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Well, it's been a few years since I was here, tanks have been running well, but now I have a conundrum.

I purchased 4 female bettas for a 15 gal tank. Each one has the little white egg spot. One of them looked to be the boss female - a black and red fiesty little think nicknamed 'Carmen'.

About a week later I notice Carmen's fins are bigger, a bit more luscious. Bubble nests start appearing (filter on low).

Now (3-4 weeks after purchase) Carmen's bubblenest is gone (cleaned the tank) but that doesn't seem to have dampened the mood because 'she' was wrapped around a gravid female near a mere string of bubbles in a mating embrace.

Carmen shows the behaviours of a male, and the finage of a plakat male, but she still has that egg spot. I've never raised bettas all the way from fry, so I don't know if some develop the egg spot and it regresses as the males develop fully.

I want to know is there any chance that 'Carmen' is a fully fertile male? Or just an odd lady? How common are hermaphrodites in bettas and is it likely I will be able to keep her with her tank mates.

I'm trying to get a photo, but you know glass+water+lights_energetic fish makes it hard to get anything but a blur.

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

Hey there Ferox, nice to see you

Sounds like a plakat male to me. I mean, it is possible it is just an exceedingly grouchy female, but if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck etc etc. If the fins look male, then I'd say it is a fair bet. I'd be pulling him out and letting the girls sort out their own pecking order.

Egg spots are not uncommon in male bettas, especially the fancier ones. They are a technical fault in showing (I think a disqualifying one too) but they don't impact the male's ability to reproduce and they don't seem to come with ovaries or any female-related behaviours.

Wild colour plakat males are a type that I would just say a big old blanket no to when it comes to housing with females. They have been bred to purely fight for so long and have so many crosses to increase their abilities and aggressive tendencies that I just wouldn't tempt fate. Even untrained and haphazardly bred ones are usually physically better built than wilds or fancies.

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. I didn't know that functional males could have an egg spot.

He's not wild coloring though. He's black and red- and I think those fins are still growing. They've doubled in size over the 3 or 4 weeks he's been here. How long does it usually take to see a male's full finage length?

I suppose I'd better find room for another heated tank, especially if he is fertile.

<Vet in Training>
Blog under development: http://www.nearlydrferox.blogging4life.com/

Hmm, it is possible he is also 'sprouting' his adult finnage. Juvenile males tend to look very similar to females when it comes to fin length but changing their environment, usually to one that involves less tankmates, tends to make them grow. Give him about 4 weeks, that should give you a good idea of what the fins should be like



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