Betta Tails And Colours

[ThePiggy]

I thought it would be a good idea to have a topic that shows the different tail types and colors of bettas.
(I looked and couldn't find a thread already like this)
Most of this information was found at this site.

Tails:

Plakat(PK)

The Plakat is a short-tailed Betta.

Halfmoon Plakat(HMPK)

where the tail has a 180 degree spread when flared but tail length is short

Crowntail Plakat(CTPK)

where the tail is either rounded or with a 180 degree spread and with elongated rays giving it a "spikey" appearance but the tail length is short.

Veil(VT)

This type of tail is long, with a long anal and dorsal fin also, and droops down from the caudal peduncle.

Double(DT)

It is a genetic trait that causes the caudal fin to grow into two lobes rather than one.

Double Veil(DTVT)

This is a cross between a double tail and a veil tail.

Round

The fin shape is round, rather than the straight edges of a Delta, but fuller and longer than that of a Plakat.

Delta(DeT)

These are very similar to HM's but have less than a 180 spread when flared.

Super Delta(SDeT)

These are nearly an HM but not quite, Deltas are far less than an HM.

Halfmoon(HM)

It is characterized by having the full 180 degree spread when flared, forming a "D" shape with straight edging. Dorsal and anal fins are also dramatically larger than those on other fin types.

Over Halfmoon(OHM)

This is the extreme end of the Halfmoon where the spread when flared is over 180 degrees.

Halfsun(HS)

It has the spread of a Halfmoon with the slight crowning of a Crowntail. The halfsuns have the tips of the rays protruding beyond the web, but not enough to be a crowntail or combtail.

Comb

They have the typical droop of the Veil tail but combined with some extended rays on all fins to varying degrees.

Crown(CT)

The rays are extended to varying degrees on all fins giving the fish a "spikey" appearance.

Spade(ST)

This type has an equal spread on either side of the fin, similar to a Round Tail, but with tail finishing in a point rather than a rounded edge.

Rose(RT)

A Rosetail is an extreme Halfmoon with excessive branching of the rays giving the tail a "ruffled" edge. If there is a huge amount of branching it can be referred to as a "Feathertail".

Feather(FT)

"Although it is an extension of the rosetail effect, the feathertail has much more than a ruffled appearance, the excessive branching actually gives it the look of feathers, with a kind of zigzag effect edge" -ibbledibble



Colour Patterns:

(HM male)
Solid- the entire fish is one color with no variations

(HM male)
Bi-Color- "The fins must be a different colour to the body to be a Bi-Colour." -ibbledibble

(D male)
Cambodian- the body is pale, almost colorless, and the fins are a solid color

(HM male)
Butterfly- the fins have distinct bands of colours

(PK male)
Marble- irregular patterns throughout the body and fin

(SD male)
Piebald- pale flesh-coloured face no matter what the body colour is

(D male)
Mask- the face being the same colour as the body rather than what it would naturally be which would be darker than the body

(PK male)
Dragon- rich strong base colour with the scales on the main part of the body a pale iridescent

(CT male)
Multicolor- 3 or more colours on the body that does not fit into any other pattern category

 

[little_mermaid]

Whoa! I didn't know there were so many variations!

Good post!

For awhile there I confused myself with Deltas and Halfmoons! But what's the difference between Halfmoons and Halfsuns? LOL

 

[ThePiggy]

Colors:

Red

(HM male)

Metallic/Steel Blue

(HM female)

Royal Blue

(PK male)

Turquoise

(CTPK male)

Green

(PK male)

Yellow

(PK male)

Pineapple

(VT male)

Chocolate

(HM male)

Orange

(HM male)

Orange Dalmation

(HM male)

Purple

(HMPK male)

Mustard Gas

(HM male)

Wild-type

(PK male)

White

(HM female)

Black

(CT male)

Opaque

(HM male)

Pastel

(HM male)

Clear/Cellophane

(DT male)

Copper

(HMPK male)

Albino

(D male)

 

[LauraFrog]

Pin! Pin! Pin! Pin! Pin!

I edited this to say something about female tail types because photos for females are now being added. The female halfmoon/delta/SD and female veiltail look very much alike - usually it's the length of the anal fin used to tell females apart. Well the female HM and similar may have the same length of fin as the veiltail. If you look at the tail of a female VT, each of the rays that starts from her body runs out to the edge of the fin and may branch once, so for each ray coming out from the body, you will see one (no branching) or two (single branch) rays at the edge of the fin. In a halfmoon, there is a lot more branching, up to eight rays at the edge to one ray leaving the body.

Note that we also combine colours sometimes when you get a betta with a lot of complicated genes. This most often occurs in veiltails and 'pet store' bettas because most of the time breeders aim to 'streamline' the genetics and remove all genes that are not needed. Personally I collect these 'odd' fish because I find them very interesting and a great study of genetic throwbacks. You literally never know what you're going to get when you breed them.

For example, a simple combination might be white body, red fins with a white edge. We would call this 'cambodian butterfly' because it is both. You can get extremely complicated and stack five or six marking descriptors, but usually if the betta's colour requires so much describing it's easier to simply post a picture, or to describe the body markings without using technical terms. It's also hard to know which order to list them in, for example if I had a fish with red marbling on a pale body, red fins with a white edge, and it also happened to be a halfmoon with extremely large fins, I would need to write quite a lot: Male halfmoon, marble cambodian butterfly rosetail. Those last four could be in almost any order.

Somebody should link to the index of betta abbreviations on this thread. I will write down a few of the most common here for simplicity's sake:

VT - veiltail
PK - plakat
DeT - delta tail
SD - super delta
HM - halfmoon
OHM - over halfmoon
DT - double tail
ST - spade tail
CT - crowntail
Comb - combtail
HS - halfsun
FT - feathertail
RT - rosetail
These can also be combined, usually with 'PK' to indicate that the fish has short fins: HMPK, CTPK, OHMPK, DTPK, STPK
If they are combined with 'FM' it means the fish in question is female.

Colour/genetics/breeding abbreviations:
Cambo - cambodian
MG - mustard gas
geno - genotype, carries the genes for, may produce offspring that look like
BF/BTF - butterfly

Ray counts:
The number of branches on rays in the tail is an early indicator of the quality of a SD/HM/OHM's fins. It's not foolproof but it gives some idea of how large they are going to be. It's also important on females when making breeding choices to avoid breeding fish with so much fin weight they cannot swim and have to be euthanised. If you hear somebody referring to ray counts, number of rays, quad rays, double ray etc, this is what they are referring to.
DR - double ray. Usually on CT, means a single branch outside of the 'webbed' part. (2 filaments)
DDR - double double ray. Again a CT term, a double branch outside of the webbing. (4 filaments)
Quad ray - Four branches. Rare, currently being selectively bred. (8 filaments)

 

[Syphoniera]

Thanks, ThePiggy and LauraFrog - you guys are brilliant, and I do hope this WILL be pinned, as it's such essential info. and so beautifully explained.
I know I only recently encountered the FT abbreviation on this site and had a heck of a time trying to work out what it meant, until someone on here mentioned the Feathertail which I don't recall having even heard of before...

 

[SharonCC]

Great post! Thanks.....

 

[puppyjess123]

Get pinned! Great info. I never new there were so many colours and types of bettas!

 

[newfishy]

this is a VERY good thread to get pinned

 

[ibbledibble]

some excellent info there but a couple of things i thought i should point out.

Rose/Feather

A Rosetail is an extreme Halfmoon with excessive branching of the rays giving the tail a "ruffled" edge. If there is a huge amount of branching it can be referred to as a "Feathertail".

Although it is an extension of the rosetail effect, the feathertail has much more than a ruffled appearence, the excessive branching actually gives it the look of feathers, with a kind of zigzag effect edge
Feathertail Video

(HM male)
Bi-Color- the fins are translucent and the body is one solid color

There are 2 types of Bi-Colour, Dark or Light and the fin colour does not necessarily have to be translucent. this picture is of a Dark Bi-colour, because its body is one of the 6 recognized dark colours. the fins must be a different colour to the body to be a Bi-Colour, but for instance a betta with blue body and red fins would still be a Dark Bi-Colour.
A Light Bi-Colour has one of the recognized light body colours, with fins of a different colour. While it is preferred that the fins be a dark colour for reasons of contrast, a betta with a white body and yellow fins would still come under this heading. Cambodians come under this heading (this term was originally only used to describe fish with white bodies and red fins, but the usage has now spread and is used for most Light Bi-Colours) but would still be judged under the heading Light Bi-Colour
Dark Bi-Colour
Light Bi-Colour

(HM male)
Butterfly- the color pattern of the body partially blends into the fins and tail which ends in a narrow, white or transparent zone

the butterfly pattern does not have to carry the body colour onto the fins, it can be a totally different colour and the end banding does not have to be white or transparent, these are merely the most commonly seen effects,
the butterfly is merely a banded pattern, it can be a two-band fin pattern, or a multiple-band fin pattern.
Butterfly

Colors:
Opaque

(HM male)

also often referred to as Platinum

 

[puppyjess123]

WOW That feathertail in the video is BEAUTIFUL!

 

[ThePiggy]

Thanks, ibbledibble. I'll edit my original post so I'm not misleading people.

 

[ibbledibble]

Thanks, ibbledibble. I'll edit my original post so I'm not misleading people.

No problem , theres so much information out there it can get VERY confusing! the website i linked to (betty splendens) seems quite good as they use judging standard terms so its a bit more specific

 

[ReMz]

This is an excellent topic. Great job guys

This is well deserving of a pin and can certainly be updated if fit to add additional info. Has someone pm'd a moderator about pinning this topic yet?

 

[ThePiggy]

I just found this gorgeous example of a yellow:

Ohh, ohhh! Would this be considered a mustard gas? He's beautiful too.

 

[snowflake311]

I am familiar with all of those but the feather one. I never have seen or heard of that one before.