Though somewhat dull looking compared to many of the wonderfully colored longfin Betta Splendens, the other species of bettas, to some, are just as beautiful. There are two groups of wild bettas the Bubblenesters, and the Mouthbrooders. The Bubblenesting group includes the most popular Betta Splendens. Inside of the bubblemesting group you have three other groups, The Splendens Group, The Bellica Group, and The Coccina Group.
The Splendens Group: This is the most popular group containing the species B.Splendens, B. Imbellis, B. Rubra, and B. Smaragdina. there are also a few un-named species and newly discovered species not yet added to this group. There is much controversy regarding Betta Imbellis and Betta splendens, and some believe that they are the same species. also Betta Rubra has been proven to be Betta Imbellis and there fore the name Betta Imbellis is seen more often.
The Bellica Group: This group contains at least two species, Betta Bellica and Betta Simorum.These fish can be characterized by elongated central filaments in the caudal fin and a distribution including Malaysia and Sumatra. They are fairly large in size , around 5 inches.
The Coccina Group: The fish i this group can be characterized by a slender body, often they will have a deep red body and a greenish-blue splotch on the middle of the flank in one for Betta Coccina or both sexes in Bettas Lividia or Brownorum. The following have different bodyt colors and may not have the same green blotch, Bettas Rutilans, Persephone, Miniopinna, Tussyae, and Burdigala. Many of this groups fish live in stagnant acidic ponds or black waters of peat forest flood pains. These fish may have either red or yellow bars on their gill covers.


My Personal Favorite is Betta Imbellis which i have a pair of and hopefully iin the next couple of months the will spawn for me.


Thanks to the author of Bettas:A complete pet owners manual, Dr. Robert Goldstein.

This post has been edited by slamster17: Jul 20 2005, 07:39 PM

bump so it doesnt get lost too fast

thanks slamster, good work

bump