The Colours in Betta splendens

#eds

Solid reds are non iridescent colours and must have the colour spread evenly over the body. A
clean red is desirable, without iridescent colours and no Iading.
#eds range in hue Irom beautiIul, vermillion reds to deep crimson and red/brown colours. The
quality oI the colour varies among strains, with most red Bettas showing some iridescence or
other colours to some degree.
Any opaque overlay detracts Irom a good red, giving rise to muted reds and pinks.


A brilliant cherry red is most desired in red Betta splendens without any iridescence or opaque
colour to mask the solid red.
The #ed Loss Iactor causes Bettas that are red as juveniles to lose that colour as the mature.
This Iactor is present in Cambodians and in yellows and apricot colours.



Black (melano)

A smoky Melano with some royal blue
The ideal colour oI a true Black Betta splendens resembles that oI the Black Mollie.
Black in Bettas is oIten a smoky black.
Black Lace Iorms have transparent, smoky Iins.
Black is one oI the most diIIicult colours to achieve, as the melano gene produces inIertile
Black Iemales. Several crosses with other colours have tried to alleviate this problem, e.g.
Melano x Celophane or yellows.
The Melano x Black Lace lines are inIertile; Steel Blue Iemales x Melano males and #oyal
Blue Iemales x Melano males have produced Blacks with considerable iridescence present.
Steel Blue

Double Tailed Steel Blues.
Notice the additional rays in the dorsal Iin
oI this Double-tailed type-- a characteristic
oI the dt gene.
Steel Blue is also sometimes called Metallic Blue.
This colour has a metallic iridescence when compared to the #oyal Blue Betta. Steel Blue
results Irom the allele combination blbl.
Steel Blue, Green, #oyal Blue, Green and Turquoise Bettas have an interesting genetic
inheritance pattern based on the Bl / bl alleles that show incomplete dominance and determine
iridescence.
Crossings:
Steel Blue x Steel Blue gives100 Steel Blue oII-spring;
Green x Green gives100 Green;
Green x Steel Blue gives all #oyal Blue;
#oyal Blue x #oyal Blue gives 50 #oyal, 25 Steel, 25 Green;
Green x #oyal Blue gives 50 #oyal, 50 Green.
Steel Blue x #oyal Blue gives 50 #oyal, 50 Steel Blue
Turquoise is a variation oI the "green" colouring (BlBl alleles).


Green

A green #T Iemale.


Green is the least Iixed single colour and varies in shade Irom Iish to Iish and line to line. Most
Green Betta splendens have a bluish green hue but less so than a Turquoise variant. It is oIten
diIIicult to distinguish these two hues. Choice greens are dark green. This and the turquoise
hues derive Irom the same alleles (BlBl).
The much sought aIter, dark, Iorest green is rare.





Turquoise A variant oI the green, with a distinct blue hue. Consistent colour across the Iish is rare. The
choice colour contains tones oI blue rather than any Green or Yellow shades, to distinguish

A turquoise HM males
them Irom the common green.
Fish with colours close to turquoise are oIten Iound in #oyal Blue and Steel Blue spawns.
The ideal is a dark shade oI turquoise.

#oyal Blue and Corn-Ilower Blue

#oyal Blue Male Veil Tail
The consistent, solid royal blue is the choice Iorm: the genotype Blbl or blBl gives a deep, rich
royal blue in the green/steel blue/royal blue complex. The most common Iorm has a dark head
and royal blue body and Iins. The ideal colour lacks reds and greens.
Corn-Ilower blues are the same genotype as royal blues but with a dark head and corn-Ilower
blue body.
#oyal blues with red Iactors may appear violet or purple when young and will lose it iI the red-
loss Iactor is present and so produce royal blues. #ed loss occurs also occurs in Steel Blue,
Turquoise, and Green.
Yellow

AVT yellow.
Brilliant lemon yellows or even a butter yellow are the best yellow colours produced so Iar,
although some breeders claim to have produced a golden yellow. Colours that tend to be either
a very pale yellow or a yellow-brown tinted are inIerior colours.
Yellow results Irom a gene that transIorms red so sometimes the presence oI red is also visible.
Golden yellow Bettas, with golden iridescence, are rare. In my yellow/apricot strain, only the
operculum is iridescent gold.
A lutino Iorm exists, in which the eyes are yellow, too.
Apricot and Peach

A Peach Male Betta.
These are yellow pastels oI varying intensities.
Apricot yellows have a distinct pale orange tint to the yellow.
Some yellow Bettas show a Iaint orange tint to the Iins and are called Apricot.
To continue the Iruity colours, "Pineapple" Bettas are yellows with a
distinct black outline to the scales, giving a net-like or pineapple
appearance. Pineapple Bettas are pattern Iorm, not a colour type.

Clear or Cellophane Has completely transparent Iins, with body Ilesh-coloured; colour Irom the body organs can
cause the Iish to look pink. Eyes are pigmented (not albino).
Albino #are. A characteristic oI any true Albino Iish is that the body lacks all pigmentation, including

the eyes which appear red. Like Cellophane, these are completely colourless Iish and may
appear pinkish white or solid white iI the opaque Iactor is present. True albino Bettas have red
eyes, with no pigmentation.
White (Not albino)

Some solid, white Bettas are a truly beautiIul dense white due to the Opaque Iactor. Whites
may have black eyes iI they are not albino.
The image, leIt, shows blue due to the colour rendering. The Iish is white.
Whites oI this type have black eyes.



Opaques (Pastels)

The Opaque allele gives the Iish a milky white overlay that dilutes the underlaying colours to
pastel shades, including the eye colour in most cases.
There is an opaque Iorm oI each oI the main colour types iI the Op allele is present. White
Opaques appear dense white to opaque steel blue.
Pastels can be almost any pastel colour.

Chocolate

Chocolate Betta splendens look brown to the eye, but are actually a black and yellow mix.

Chocolate variants can be bred to yellow to improve colour oI both the yellow and the
chocolate Iry.





Orange

Orange Betta
Orange Bettas are a new strain oI Betta splendens, and concepts oI "orange" varies with
individual breeders. I have not seen any true orange Bettas in Australia, except Ior light reds
that look more vermillion/orange than true orange and yellows that have a slight wash oI
orange/red.
How "orange" is orange?
Perhaps an agreed colour chart would help distinguish true colour classiIication.
Lavender, Purple and Violet A lavender Betta is genetically a Cambodian Betta splendens with extended #ed and a layer oI light iridescent
blue-green.

Truly Purple Betta splendens are also very new and rare and it appears that the colour results Irom blending red
and blue.
My #oyal Blue strain throws purple or violet Iry that appear violet at their Iirst show oI colour and darken to
royal blues within a Iew months, as the red Iades (due to the red-loss Iactor, L) as the Iish mature .
Truly violet coloured Bettas are rare.

The many colours oI aquarium-raised strains oI Betta splendens can be grouped into several colour patterns:

"wild type"

Betta splendens or Betta imbellis?
The typical red/brown Betta splendens is a dull red, with some blue/green
iridescence. Pictured is a specimen sold to me as a wild type Betta
splendens but it looks very much like B. imbellis. The two species are
closely related and the modern varieties oI Betta splendens may descend
Irom a hybrid oI B. imbellis.


solid colours

Any continuous, solid colour covering the entire body as well as the Iins
gives a Iish oI one colour. Includes both iridescent and non-iridescent
colours, the main colours being red, steel blue, royal blue, yellow, steel
blue, green, turquoise, purple, lavender, chocolate brown, black and white.
Solid colour Iorms should have no colour breaks or
show any iridescence.
bi-coloured

Light body - dark Iins type bi-colour
Essentially, the body is one colour and the Iins and tail are another colour.
The body and Iins can be any combination oI the recognised solid colours .
There are two types oI Bi-coloured Betta:
a) dark body types, with light Iins, and ...
b) light body types, with dark Iins (including the cambodian trait).
In each case, only two colours should appear on the Iish. These colours
should be well deIined and high in contrast
The butterIly type is a variety oI bi-coloured patterning in Bettas.
Cambodian

Cambodian Crown-tailed Betta
The pla kat kmer. a pinkish or white body with coloured Iins (normally
red) was the original Cambodian. This is a sub-group oI the bi-
colouredBetta splendens.





butterIly

ButterIly Betta.
A bi-coloured Iorm in which the colour pattern oI the body (which may be
oI any colour) partially blends into the transparent or white Iins and tail
(body / blend / Iin edges). The eIIect is to create an oval band around the
Iish, which ideally is separated Irom the body by a narrow, white or
transparent zone.
Choice ButterIies have a coloured body with a white blend into the Iins and
then a Iinal blend back to the body colour towards the edge oI the Iins.
Fins should display a distinct banded pattern, with strong contrast and well
deIined edges. The bands should also encircle the body oI the Iish with a
well deIined oval shape.
new variegated types

ButterIly: a variegated butterIly type in which the band near the body is particularly
wide.
Pictured is a beautiIul Iish, displayed on the CaliIornia Betta
Society web page. It shows the trend in modern breeding lines Ior colour
and pattern development.
BettaBiz displays some choice new varieties.
Variegated types show beautiIul patterning that may
or may not match the "butterIly" look.


tri-coloured ButterIlies (incl. the "Tutweiler" BF)

BeautiIul tri-coloured "ButterIly" types: while not a true BF in the
strict sense, this pattening is more Irequently encountered.
Some butterIly trains are tri-coloured. Both light bodied and dark bodied
Iorms exist.









Claire McHendrie's tri-coloured ButterIly:
note the enhanced dorsal Iin and the lack
oI ventral Iins in this Iish.
"Tutweiler" BF Crown Tail
A notable early expression oI this pattern was in Tutweiler"s BF, in which
the body is paler than the band closest to the body. However, that pattern
was not a Iixed strain.
Above, is Diwa's "Tutweiler", a modern attempt at reproducing the
Tutweiler BF in Crown tails bred in Indonesia. The strain is Cambodian
based and not yet stable.



marbled

A Coloured Marble
White or salmon pink Iaced Bettas in which the colours are splashed or
blotched with no deIined borders between the body and the Iins or tail.
Two types oI Marble Betta exist:
a) the traditional Marble or Piebald, which is a dark bodied Iish with a
white head or Iace and lacking in the colours red, green, blue and steel
blue; and
b) the Coloured Marble. The Iins oI the choice Coloured Marble show a
sharp-edged mix oI light and dark colours (red, green, blue, and steel blue)
and the Iace and chin are white or pink / salmon coloured.


multicoloured

"Multicoloured" includes those Iish that do not Iit into any oI the above
mentioned pattern categories and have two or more contrasting colours.
Tri-colours Iit in this category.
Pictured leIt: a tricolour with Cambodian, opaque and variegated
alleles. A true butterIly would have a well deIined colour break where the
Iins are blue in this specimen.
Many modern Bettas Iit this category.

speckled In this colour pattern, the body and Iins are speckled with irrigular, dark
spots like Ireckles.



COLOUR INHERITANCE IN BETTAS
There are Iour layers oI color--the yellow is the bottom most, then black, red, and the iridescent layer is upper most.
Colour Genotypes, notation:
| denotes wild or "normal" Iorm; upper case denotes dominance over ; lower case denotes a recessive or semi-dominant trait. Thus, or w or w give normal
coloured eyes and ww gives white eye.)

w white eye recessive white outer ring to the eyes.
c Cambodian recessive limits black
b black or m melano recessive black males; deadly in Iemales.
Si spread Iridocytes dominant causes spread oI iridescence over body and Iins
Op opaque dominant produces an opaque, white coating on the body and Iins; present in all pastel colours.
bl incomplete dominance metallic blue-green iridescence*
Bl incomplete dominance green iridescence*
nr non-#ed recessive removes red; present in yellow, white and some Cambodians
b blond recessive dilutes colours by reducing melanin;
L red-Loss dominant all red colour Iades as the Iish matures, revealing the other colours iI present.
mb marbled pattern recessive colour blotches
VI variegated Iins dominant streaked Iins and butterIly trait
E# (or # ) extended red dominant all red, colour varies Irom cherry red to vermillion, depending on other Iactors present.
*N.B. the Bl & bl alleles determines steel blue, blue-green, turquoise, corn-Ilower and royal blue colours. Blbl or blBl gives royal blue, BlBl gives
green and blbl gives steel-blue.

"Quasimoto"
How would you describe this Iish? A dark bodied bi-colour or cellophane?
This is a Iish showing the red-loss Iactor, L. It also has the recessive white eye and
double-tail Iactors, ww & dtdt. It was bred Irom a #ed strain.
Notice how the dorsal Iin (upper most Iin) almost matches the lower most, anal Iin Ior
size- an eIIect oI the dt allele that imparts additional rays to the dorsal Iin. Breeding
Irom this Iish may improve colour depth in yellows and, oI course, throw nice trailing
DTs iI the Iemale carries that allele, too. Even dt-splits Irom this line will show
improved dorsal Iins.



Alleles for Fin type

round-tail

Female #ound-tail Betta



All alleles dominant
or
recessive against
this allele.
the "wild Iorm" tail
type
The specimen
pictured at the right,
has a tail Iorm that
is better than the
wild Iorm and
approaches the
delta-tail shape.
~~


#ound-tail Male juvenile.
P veil tail

dominant:
long, drooping tail





dt double-tail recessive:
a true double caudal
Iin, in which there
are two distinct tails
(two caudal
peduncles) and not
just a split in a
DT Melano-Yellow ButterIly male
I have bred Irom a Iish very similar to the above specimen, except
that the Iins were outlined in royal blue. His body was also
pineapple patterned- each scale was outlined in black against a pale

Above: DT Steel Blue Male
Heart Tails, Fuse Tails and
Triple Tails are all due to
the dt allele.

Multi-DTs. This Iish almost has perIect, evenly sized caudal Iins,
which
is hard to achieve in DTs.
single tail:
the dorsal Iin
mirrors the anal Iin
in approx. size and
shape and has
additional rays.
Even dt-splits show
an enhanced dorsal
Iin.
Heart Tails have a
partially Iused twin
caudal Iin that gives
them their
characteristic shape.
Fuse Tails have
caudal, dorsal and
anal Iins Iused as
one entire Iin (rare).
Triple Tails are very
rare.



body.
The dt allele in a single dose is used in breeding to give improved
tails and dorsal Iin count (bred Irom one parent only and thereIore
not expressed as the recessive characteristic).












Delta Tail

Delta Tail
recessive:
Greek D shaped tail,
held well, with wide
spread but less than
180
o;

possibly a multiple
Iactor inheritance.



I have no deIinite
inIormation
regarding the
allele(s) Ior this
trait.



One oI improved delta tails


hm halI moon

One oI Sherri Kish's HM Bettas.

recessive: Possibly a
multiple Iactor
inheritance is
expressed in this
type:
tail shaped like a
capital D; an
enhanced Iorm oI
the Delt tail, with
multiple branching
oI the rays oI the
Iins.
Dorsal and anal Iins
are also enhanced
with this trait.
straight edges to tail
Iin desired in this
trait, to give a semi-
circular outline with
caudal Iin spread oI
180
o
.
Many so-called
HalI-Moons (HMs)
do not have the Iull
180
o
spread and are
sometimes known
as "Super Delta"
Tails.

A turquoise HM males: the tail spread is 180
o
, in this photograph.

p comb tail

recessive
Iin rays extend
beyond the Iin
webbing: this is
usually a single,
extending ray.






crown tails; a new trait

Note the double-ray extentions in the
caudal Iin.
A new type originating in Asia in the 1990s.
This type is becoming very popular
recessive
caudal Iins have
long, double ray
extensions like an
improved comb-
tailed Betta.; other
Iins have long
extensions.
There is
considerable
variation in this
trait, with double
ray, triple ray and
quadruple ray
(double-doubles!)
extentions.
Crown tails are also
crossed with other
tail Iorms such as
short, long, double
and delta-tailed
Iorms to give
considerable
variation.


One oI Indra's Java Crown Tails Ilaring.
Note the long, extended, double rays.

:RSoIid coIors
These are bettas that are one color, meaning the body and the fins are the same color. ideally solid color bettas should not have any other colors
present (also called "impurities". However, in the real world (yeah, come back from lala land please LOL) most bettas have impurities, it is just that
some show them more than others. ideally you want to get stock as clean as possible. proud myself in offering a large amount of very pure colored
fish here. These are hard to produce and hard to find. bettas with heavier impurities consider culls and will not sell. For example, a blue bettas should
have no red in the fins. An opaque bettas should not have red washes (although that is a very common problem and very clean opaques are very hard
to produce and find). A reed bettas should not have green or blue iridescence on its body. Etc etc... And so forth and so on. So what are the main solid
colors choices?

cellophane: basically has no color. Fins are translucent and body is flesh.
The flesh color is due to the fact that one can see the tissues and organs which
are flesh colored. The skin itself does not have any pigments.

hite opaque: this color was created by Dr. Gene Lucas, who played
around with several genes until the first solid white betta came to be. Most
opaques tend to have impurities and very clean opaques, like the male on the
left (Holy Grail) are very hard to produce.

ello: also known as "non-red" all yellows also carry one of the three
iridescent color (steel, royal or green).

orange: this strain was first created by Gilbert Limhengco and is one of the
latest new solid colors. Oranges are a bit more red than what an orange would
look like, maybe more like a dark tangerine color.

red: normal reds have some black pigment on the body giving them more of a
bicolor look, with a reddish/blackish body and red fins. However most breeders
now work with extended red which are intense red from head to tail, including
the pectoral fins :). These are prettier and many carry cambodian genes.

8teel blue: this is one of the three iridescent colors. The blue is lighter and
more "cold" looking, like a grayish blue.

roal blue: this is the second of the three iridescent colors. Royal blue is
much darker and has almost a purple feel to it. Best see under a flashlight.

green: this is the third of the three iridescent colors. Green is near impossible
to detect without a flashlight. Many green bettas might look black or royal blue
at first, but under a light their iridescent green is revealed.

turquoi8e: everybody is always arguing about this color so let us just say
that turquoise is a color between blue and green, some claim it is not green,
while others claim it is nothing but green.

copper: the latest iridescent color variation! these bettas were obtained by
crossing with specific wild strains that showed some gold. Now they come in a
light gold, deep copper, deep red copper and even purplish copper hues. these
are truly gorgeous fish. Note that their true colors only come out when the light
shines on them!

black: there are currently thtee different black strains: Melano blacks, fertile
blacks (also referred to as black lace - call them Black Crystal) and the black
coppers ( call them Black Crusaders).

:R-i-coIors
A bicolor betta has two solid colors. The body will be one solid color while the fins will be another. There are quite a few variations but the most
common are:


cambodian: the body is flesh and the fins are usually red (traditional cambodian) or
sometimes blue or green (see below)

green or blue cambodian8: the body is whitish and the fins are green or blue.

chocolate: the body is dark, usually black but sometimes dark blue or dark green (Emerald
dawn strain) and the fins are yellow or golden orange.

:R-099,s wi9 p,990rns
Patterned bettas are bettas with several color displayed in an organized manner (a pattern). Bettas with a bunch of random colors (which most pet
store bettas are) are not patterned bettas and are called multicolors. You will not find multicolor bettas on my stock page, ever. am however very very
fund of bettas with cool looking patterns :) and pride myself on offering a large variety of them. Note that good patterns (even patterns) are VERY hard
to produce and these fish remain rare and very desirable. hence if you look at my stock page and read the evaluation comments and the lot is tagged
"very good pattern" then GRAB T! there are basically two main type of patterns: Butterfly patterns and marbles. Note that all patterns do come from
marble genes, or come from the expression of these genes. let's cover the main two and also glance at a third one thought we should also mention.


butterfl (BF): The body is solid color while the fins are divided in two separate color
bans. half of the fin is one color and the other half another color. For example the black/white
BF betta to the left has fins that are 50% black and 50% white (a very rare combination) and
comes from my Dreamcatcher strain. The ideal BF has a 50.50 split, but remain very rare. A
split of 30/70 to 70/30 is acceptable. Less than 20% is referred to as a "ban" and less than
5% is oftentimes referred to as a "tip" (for example a white tip). On very rare occasion a betts
will have a tri-ban pattern, meaning the fins are 3 colors. these are very pretty and very rare
and of course pricey and sought after. Our betta strain "Tutti Fruitti" is such a 3 ban BF type
strain.

marble: The body and fins have blotches of color over a flesh or any other light color solid
background. For example, black blotches over flesh color or over white. The photo to the left
is that of a red marble from my apache strain. Not all marbles have blotches on both body
and fins. Many may have botches on body but then clear fins, or solid body and then blotchy
fins etc...

piebald: The betta has a flesh face, regardless of his body color. To the left, a steel blue
piebald from my blue apache strain. find this trait very pretty.