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Morphology & Fin Standards

Betta Varieties Encyclopedia

A curated guide to show-grade betta fish varieties and fin morphology standards.

Fin forms and types

Fin form decides the show class. The six forms most often in our catalog are illustrated; the others follow below. Definitions and sizes follow the IBC 2025 exhibition standards.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types

180° tail spread forming a crisp letter D

Halfmoon (HM)

Caudal fin spreads a full 180 degrees into a majestic half-circle fan with straight, crisp edges and balanced dorsal and anal fin symmetry.

Origin
France and the US: Guy Delaval reached a 180° spread in 1987; Laurent Chenot, Rajiv Masillamoni and Jeff Wilson stabilized it into an IBC Best of Show in 1993.
Heredity
Long fins are linked to the kcnj15 gene; the halfmoon–veiltail difference maps to a region of chromosome 16.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types, Zhang 2022

Short fins; tail no longer than a third of the body

Plakat Shortfin (PK)

Short-finned athletic fighter morphology with a muscular torpedo torso, vigorous agility, and high resilience suited for active display.

Origin
Thailand and the Malay Peninsula: the oldest domestic form, descended from fighting fish.
Heredity
Genome studies place the fighter lines closest to the root of the ornamental betta family tree.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

Webbing at least 33% shorter than the rays (IBC, males)

Crowntail (CT)

The fin rays extend past the webbing, giving a toothed, crown-like edge. In Indonesia it is known as the cupang serit.

Origin
Indonesia: developed by Ahmad Yusuf and breeders in Slipi, West Jakarta, around 1997.
Heredity
The crowntail–veiltail difference maps mainly to regions of chromosomes 22 and 24.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types, Radar Tulungagung, Kwon 2022

Large pectoral fins; ideally half the body length (IBC)

Dumbo Ear (Big Ear)

The paired pectoral fins grow very large, like elephant ears, and wave as the fish swims. The IBC judges it in the Large Pectoral class; hobbyists also call it elephant ear.

Origin
Thailand: breeder records report large-pectoral fish on a farm around 1999, refined through the 2000s.
Heredity
A 2022 genome study mapped Dumbo to two loci (chromosomes 11 and 19); the lead signal sits in a hoxa gene cluster.

Sources: IBC 2025, Nice Betta: dumbo, Zhang 2022

Body length at least 6 cm in males, 5 cm in females (IBC)

Giant Betta

Large and stocky. Per the IBC standard, it does not stop growing like an ordinary betta and keeps growing throughout life.

Origin
Thailand: developed from plakat lines, then became popular in Indonesia.
Heredity
Body size is polygenic; one locus on chromosome 8 explains about 8–9% of the variation.

Sources: IBC 2025, Distankan Buleleng, Zhang 2022

Excessive branching of the fin rays

Rosetail / Feathertail

Excessive ray branching produces dramatic ruffled, overlapping fin folds reminiscent of delicate blooming rose petals.

Origin
Arose from halfmoon selection for extreme ray branching.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types

More fin forms

Code: VT

Veiltail

Long, drooping, asymmetrical tail

The oldest long-finned show form. The tail droops, ideally about one body length long, with a narrow dorsal and a trapezoid anal fin.

Origin
Long-finned lines existed in Asia by about 1850; Warren Young (US) bred very long-finned veiltails around 1960.
Heredity
The veiltail is the first recorded long-fin form; long fins are linked to the kcnj15 gene.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types, Zhang 2022

Code: D

Delta

Symmetrical, triangular tail

The tail widens symmetrically like the Greek letter delta, with a spread under 180°. The delta bridged the veiltail and the halfmoon.

Origin
Germany: Dr. Eduard Schmidt-Focke bred the first deltatail in the 1960s.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

Code: SD

Super delta

Very broad delta; spread still short of 180°

A delta with very large fins. Before the halfmoon, the widest tail spread achieved was about 160°.

Origin
US: Peter Goettner and Paris Jones around 1980; these lines became the base of the halfmoon.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types

Code: OHM

Over halfmoon

Tail spread beyond 180°

A halfmoon whose tail opens past 180° when fully flared.

Origin
Further selection of halfmoon lines.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types

Code: HMPK

Halfmoon plakat (show plakat)

Short fins with a 180° tail

Short fins, a semicircular dorsal that snaps open like a fan, and a tail that opens 180°. The most widely bred plakat form today.

Origin
Traditional plakats crossed with long-finned halfmoons; the IBC split the traditional and show plakat standards in 2005.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: plakat

Code: CTPK

Crowntail plakat

Short-finned crowntail

The crowntail's protruding rays on short plakat fins. The IBC has a separate Crowntail Shortfin standard.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types

Code: HS

Halfsun

Halfmoon with protruding ray tips

A halfmoon–crowntail combination: a wide tail near 180° with slightly protruding ray tips.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types

Code: DT

Double tail

Two tail lobes split to the base

The tail is split into two lobes down to the base of the peduncle. The peduncle is wider, the dorsal nearly as large as the anal, and the body tends to be short.

Origin
India: breeders there produced the doubletail around 1960.
Heredity
Recessive: single tail (ST) is dominant over double tail (dt). ST/dt carriers have one tail but often a broader dorsal.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: tail types, Inglorious Bettas, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

Code: DTPK

Double tail plakat

Short-finned doubletail

The plakat version of the doubletail. The IBC distinguishes type A (veiltail-based) and type B (halfmoon-based with a rectangular anal).

Sources: IBC 2025

Code: CBT

Combtail

Slightly protruding ray tips

Finely toothed fin edges where the rays slightly pass the webbing, but less reduced than a crowntail. The IBC stresses that a combtail is not a crowntail.

Sources: IBC 2025

Code: SPT

Spadetail

Tail tapering to one point

A single tail that widens and then tapers to one point like a spade. Rarely seen for sale.

Sources: Gramedia

Colors and patterns

Betta color is built from layers of pigment cells. The groups below follow the IBC standard: single colors, metallics, bicolors and patterns. Popular trade names are explained in the last group.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors

Dark single colors

Red and black (non-iridescent), and blue, steel, turquoise and green (iridescent).

Red

Brilliant, even red from body to fins. Even a slight iridescent, metallic or opaque sheen counts as a fault.

Heredity
Extended red (Er) is dominant and spreads red over the whole body.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors

Royal blue

The ideal deep blue of the blue class; it can look almost purple.

Heredity
The heterozygote Blbl between turquoise and steel: royal × royal gives turquoise, royal and steel in a 1:2:1 ratio.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors, Zhang 2022

Steel blue

A greyish blue with a silver sheen, also called gunmetal.

Heredity
Homozygous blbl. Pigment studies show steel lacks red cells (erythrophores) in the lower scale layer.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors, Zhang 2022

Green

Grass or forest green; the hardest dark single color to fix.

Sources: IBC 2025

Black (melano, black lace)

Melano is the deep true black. Black lace is lighter with translucent fin webbing; the IBC also recognizes double black.

Heredity
Melano is recessive (mm) and its females are almost always infertile; black lace is recessive too, but its females are fertile.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors

Mask (full mask)

The head is covered by the same iridescence as the body instead of being black. The IBC accepts both as long as they are complete.

Heredity
Breeders developed it later as a mask gene that covers the black head.

Sources: IBC 2025

Light single colors

Yellow, orange, clear, pastel and opaque.

Yellow

Brilliant yellow; pale or brownish yellow is undesirable.

Heredity
Yellow comes from a trait that transforms red (non-red), so red on a yellow fish is a serious fault.

Sources: IBC 2025

Orange

Brilliant yet translucent orange, like the flesh of an orange.

Heredity
Orange lines were developed from marble and light-bodied bicolor lines. A genome study mapped orange versus red and yellow to a locus on chromosome 8.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Cellophane (clear)

A colorless body that looks pink from the flesh and organs, with transparent fins and dark eyes.

Sources: IBC 2025

Albino

No pigment at all, so the eyes look red, unlike the dark-eyed cellophane. Very rare.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Pastel

Soft iridescent colors (blue, green or white) over a light body.

Sources: IBC 2025

Opaque white

Dense, brilliant white without a dark under-color; it must be truly opaque.

Sources: IBC 2025

Metallics

A metallic layer over a dark or light base color.

Copper

Shiny metallic copper like a new penny; under a flashlight it reflects purple, turquoise and blue.

Heredity
Breeder records say copper was made by introducing a metallic gene into steel blue lines. A genome study found a candidate locus on chromosome 5; copper fish carry one or two copies of that allele.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Gold metallic

A golden metallic layer over a light body; the IBC groups it with the light-bodied metallics.

Sources: IBC 2025

Metallic teal and green

Metallic versions of blue and green over a dark body; the teal color comes from the metallic layer.

Sources: IBC 2025

Platinum (metallic white)

Sellers often call a very dense metallic white platinum; the IBC has a metallic opaque white class.

Sources: IBC 2025

Bicolors

The body is one color and the fins another, contrasting color.

Bicolor

Body and fins in different colors with a clear boundary, such as a green body with yellow fins.

Sources: IBC 2025

Chocolate

A dark-bodied bicolor: a black body reduced to brown, with yellow fins.

Sources: IBC 2025

Cambodian

A pale, flesh-colored body with colored fins; the traditional cambodian has red fins.

Heredity
Recessive (cc): genetically it means the absence of black pigment.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors

Mustard gas

A dark blue or green body with yellow to orange fins; shown in the bicolor class.

Sources: Betta Territory: colors

Patterns

Patterns judged by how the colors are arranged, not only the colors.

Butterfly

Fins with crisp bands: the base color near the body and a light band at the edge. Judges look at how crisp the band is.

Heredity
Breeders know the banded pattern as the variegated fins trait in the red layer.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: colors

Marble

Irregular patches like marble stone. The pattern can change throughout the fish's life.

Heredity
The IBC standard credits a transposon (jumping gene); a 2022 genome study found nine loci, so the pattern is likely polygenic. Hobbyist records say marble appeared in the late 1960s in a black betta line in Indiana, US.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022, FishStores: marble

Koi

A colorful marble pattern reminiscent of koi carp: red, black, white, yellow, sometimes blue. The IBC judges it in the koi-based fancy groups.

Heredity
Marble-based, so its colors can change with age.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Multicolor

Three or more colors without a set pattern; unlike marble, there is no mosaic patching.

Sources: IBC 2025

Dalmatian

Small spots on light fins, like a dalmatian dog. The IBC places it in the marble group.

Sources: IBC 2025

Black orchid

A solid black body with streaks of dark iridescence between every ray of the unpaired fins, most often steel blue.

Sources: IBC 2025

Grizzle

Iridescence broken up across scales and fins, as if grizzled.

Heredity
The grizzle gene seems to inhibit pigment formation in parts of the scales and fins.

Sources: IBC 2025

Dragon scale

Thick scales covered by a heavy metallic layer and a full mask over the head, like dragon armor.

Heredity
According to Thai breeders, dragons were created around 2004 by crossing super red and red copper plakats with wild Betta mahachaiensis, then backcrossing.

Sources: IBC 2025, Betta Territory: dragon, Nice Betta: dragon

Pineapple

Each scale is edged in a dark color over a yellowish body, forming a net pattern like pineapple skin.

Sources: IBC 2025

Alien

A wild-type-based pattern: a fully coated head, evenly arranged scales and lined bands in the fins.

Sources: IBC 2025

Popular trade names

Names sellers and breeders use, especially in Thailand and Indonesia. Trade names are not official IBC classes and can mean different things between sellers.

Nemo, galaxy and candy

Koi variants: nemo is mostly orange, red and black; galaxy is speckled with iridescent blue; candy is brightly multicolored. A 2022 genome study names koi, candy and galaxy as trade names for the same mosaic pattern.

Sources: Zhang 2022

Fancy

A name for irregular mixed colors. The IBC has trial fancy groups, such as koi base fancy and iridescent fancy.

Sources: IBC 2025

Genetics and heredity

How color and form pass to the offspring. Each topic is labelled: genome study, breeder experience, or both. Breeder models help plan pairings, but not all of them are scientifically proven.

Sources: Kwon 2022, Zhang 2022, Betta Territory: colors, Inglorious Bettas

Color layers

Breeder experience

  • A betta's body color comes from four cell layers: iridescent (top), black, red and yellow (bottom).
  • Genes add or remove pigment in each layer. That is why light purple can appear when a copper layer covers royal blue.
  • The layering in the fins may differ and is not yet well studied.

Sources: Betta Territory: colors, Inglorious Bettas

Dominant, recessive and geno

Breeder experience

  • Every fish carries two copies (alleles) of each gene, one from each parent.
  • Capitals mark dominant alleles, lower case recessive ones. A recessive trait shows only when both copies are recessive.
  • A geno (carrier) fish holds one recessive allele without showing it, such as a melano-geno.

Sources: Betta Territory: colors

The blue spectrum: turquoise, royal, steel

Study and breeders

  • Turquoise (BlBl), royal (Blbl) and steel (blbl) are controlled by one gene with incomplete dominance.
  • A 2022 genome study confirmed the 1:2:1 ratio and mapped the gene to one locus on chromosome 24.
  • The dominant spread iridescence (Si) gene spreads iridescence over the whole body; in wild bettas it shows only as dots and streaks.

Example crosses

Turquoise × steel
100% royal
Royal × royal
25% turquoise, 50% royal, 25% steel
Turquoise × royal
50% turquoise, 50% royal

Sources: Betta Territory: colors, Zhang 2022

Cambodian

Breeder experience

  • The cambodian gene (c) is recessive and leaves the body almost colorless while the fins keep their color.

Example crosses

Cambodian × normal
100% carriers (Cc)
Carrier × carrier
25% cambodian, 50% carriers, 25% normal

Sources: Betta Territory: colors

Melano and infertile females

Breeder experience

  • Melano (mm) is recessive and gives the deepest black.
  • Melano females are almost always infertile: eggs can be fertilized but rupture during hatching. One hypothesis blames extra adhesion proteins in their black cells.
  • The usual strategy: pair a melano male with a steel female. The F1 are all melano-geno, and F1 × F1 brings melano back.

Example crosses

Melano × normal
100% melano-geno (Mm)
Melano-geno × melano-geno
25% melano, 50% melano-geno, 25% normal

Sources: Betta Territory: colors

Red, yellow and orange

Study and breeders

  • Extended red (Er) is dominant and spreads red over body and fins.
  • Yellow comes from a non-red trait that transforms red.
  • A 2022 genome study mapped orange versus red and yellow to one locus on chromosome 8.
  • The red-loss trait makes red fade as young fish mature and is thought to have come with the marble gene.

Sources: Betta Territory: colors, IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Metallics, copper and wild-betta genes

Study and breeders

  • Breeder records say copper came from a metallic gene introduced into steel blue lines.
  • A 2022 genome study found a candidate metallic locus on chromosome 5; copper fish carry one or two copies of its allele, matching a dominant pattern.
  • Another genome study found DNA from wild species such as B. mahachaiensis and B. imbellis in many ornamental bettas; dragon lines were bred on purpose from such crosses.

Sources: Zhang 2022, Kwon 2022, Betta Territory: dragon

Marble: a changing pattern

Study and breeders

  • Marble and its offspring patterns (koi, galaxy, candy) can change throughout life, so their pairings are hard to predict.
  • The IBC standard names a transposon (jumping gene) as the cause.
  • A 2022 genome study found nine loci on eight chromosomes, so the mosaic pattern is likely polygenic; the mechanism is not yet resolved.

Sources: IBC 2025, Zhang 2022

Long fins, crowntails and doubletails

Study and breeders

  • Long fins (veiltail, crowntail, halfmoon), compared with plakats and HMPKs, are linked to a gain of function in the kcnj15 gene.
  • The crowntail–veiltail difference maps mainly to chromosomes 22 and 24; halfmoon and veiltail differ in a region of chromosome 16.
  • Double tail is recessive: ST is dominant over dt. ST/dt carriers have one tail but often a broader dorsal, so breeders use them to improve dorsals.

Example crosses

ST/ST × dt/dt
100% single-tail carriers (ST/dt)
ST/dt × ST/dt
75% single tail, 25% doubletail
ST/dt × dt/dt
50% single-tail carriers, 50% doubletail

Sources: Zhang 2022, Kwon 2022, Inglorious Bettas

Dumbo and Giant

Genome study

  • Dumbo pectoral fins have more and longer rays; a 2022 genome study mapped them to chromosomes 11 and 19, with the lead signal in a hoxa gene cluster that helps shape fins.
  • Giant size is polygenic: the main locus on chromosome 8 explains only about 8–9% of the variation, so selecting for size takes many generations.

Sources: Zhang 2022, IBC 2025

Sex determination

Genome study

  • The dmrt1 gene is the main sex determiner in ornamental bettas; males carry a male-specific variant (heterogametic).
  • In wild B. splendens its effect is weaker.

Sources: Kwon 2022, Zhang 2022

Linebreeding, outcrossing and pedigree

Breeder experience

  • Linebreeding (pairing relatives, such as mother × son) fixes traits quickly, as when the first dragon line was made.
  • Too much inbreeding is risky: early halfmoon lines were so inbred that males stopped building nests and could not spawn, until outcrosses rescued them.
  • Outcrossing to another line adds diversity and can improve fins or color, but the wanted traits must be selected again in the F2 and later generations.
  • Record every pairing (F1, F2, F3) so the pedigree can be traced; the lines in our store come with pedigree certificates.

Sources: Betta Territory: tail types, Betta Territory: dragon

Wild betta species

Ornamental bettas descend from Betta splendens, but the genus Betta holds 78 species in 13 complexes. Many are native to Indonesia, especially the peat swamps of Kalimantan and Sumatra. Some breed in bubble nests; others brood their eggs in the mouth.

Sources: Wikipedia: Betta

splendens complex (fighting fish)

Bubble-nesters from mainland Southeast Asia; the ancestor and closest relatives of ornamental bettas.

Betta splendens

Siamese fighting fish

Native range
Thailand (Mae Khlong to Chao Phraya basins), Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; also in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, likely introduced by people.
Habitat
Shallow, vegetated water: marshes, floodplains and rice paddies.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
6–8 cm
IUCN status
Vulnerable (VU)

Ancestor of all ornamental bettas; its natural colors are green, brown and grey.

Read more about Betta splendens on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Betta imbellis

Peaceful betta, crescent betta

Native to Indonesia

Native range
Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia; introduced to Singapore.
Habitat
Sluggish water: rice paddies, swamps, streams and ponds over leaf litter and mud.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
6 cm
IUCN status
Least concern (LC)

Threatened by hybridization with released ornamental bettas.

Read more about Betta imbellis on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Betta mahachaiensis

Mahachai betta

Native range
Thailand near the Gulf of Thailand: Samut Sakhon, west Bangkok and Samut Prakan.
Habitat
Swamps, pools and still ponds; it can live in brackish water (1.1–10.6 ppt salinity), unique among bettas.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
5–6 cm

Described in 2012; breeders used it to create the dragon lines.

Read more about Betta mahachaiensis on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Betta siamorientalis

Native range
Eastern Thailand (Chachoengsao, Sa Kaeo, Prachin Buri, part of Chon Buri), Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
Habitat
Shallow marshes, flooded grassland and rice paddies; males guard bubble nests among water plants.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
3.6 cm

Described in 2012.

Read more about Betta siamorientalis on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Betta smaragdina

Emerald betta, Mekong fighting fish

Native range
Thailand (Isan: Mun and Chi rivers) and Laos in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins; also reported from Vietnam.
Habitat
Shaded rice paddies, swamps, ditches and ponds over leaf litter, mud or sand.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
7 cm
IUCN status
Data deficient (DD)

Its green-blue color comes from light refracted by microscopic hexagonal crystals.

Read more about Betta smaragdina on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

coccina complex

Small, mostly red bettas of peat swamps; many are threatened by their tiny ranges.

Betta hendra

Native to Indonesia

Native range
Endemic to the Sabangau River basin, Central Kalimantan.
Habitat
Shaded peat swamp forest without current, 5–50 cm deep.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
4.2 cm

Described in 2013; a 2025 captive breeding report records bubble nests built under dry leaves.

Read more about Betta hendra on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Betta miniopinna

Native to Indonesia

Native range
Endemic to Bintan Island, Riau Islands.
Habitat
Acidic blackwater peat swamp (pH 4.9–6) that can dry out for weeks; the fish survives in wet leaf litter.
Breeding
Bubble nest
Maximum length
2.4 cm
IUCN status
Critically endangered (CR)

Read more about Betta miniopinna on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

albimarginata complex

Small bettas from East Kalimantan forest streams.

picta complex

Mouthbrooders of streams in Java and Borneo.

foerschi complex

Mouthbrooders from Borneo and Sumatra.

unimaculata complex

Large bettas from Borneo, including some of the biggest in the genus.

Betta ocellata

Eyespot mouthbrooder

Native to Indonesia

Native range
North-eastern Borneo: Sabah (Malaysia) and East Kalimantan (Indonesia).
Habitat
Slow-flowing stretches, ravines and isolated pools with floating leaves and leaf litter.
Breeding
Mouthbrooder

An excellent jumper that mainly eats terrestrial insects.

Read more about Betta ocellata on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

anabatoides complex

Large-bodied wild bettas from Borneo.

pugnax complex

Mouthbrooders of flowing streams in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands.

Betta pugnax

Penang betta

Native to Indonesia

Native range
The Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, Sumatra and the Riau Islands.
Habitat
Swift forest streams, among bankside vegetation.
Breeding
Mouthbrooder
Maximum length
6.7 cm

Cantor's first scientific name (Macropodus pugnax, 1849) now belongs to this species.

Read more about Betta pugnax on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

edithae complex

A single species from Borneo, Sumatra and the Riau Islands.

dimidiata complex

Small bettas from West Kalimantan.

waseri complex

Large blackwater bettas from Peninsular Malaysia to the Riau Islands.

akarensis complex

Large mouthbrooders from northern Borneo.

Betta akarensis

Akar betta

Native range
Northern Borneo: Sarawak (Malaysia) and Brunei.
Habitat
Swamp forest, peat bogs and acidic water; also ditches and ponds.
Breeding
Mouthbrooder
Maximum length
14 cm

One of the largest bettas; the female takes the active role in courtship.

Read more about Betta akarensis on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Origins and history

From Thai rice paddies to international shows: a timeline of betta domestication and of the modern fin forms, including the crowntail from Indonesia.

Sources: Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish, Betta Territory: tail types, Kwon 2022

  1. 14th century

    Fighting fish in Thailand

    The oldest reports of bettas bred for fighting come from Thailand around the 14th century, one of the oldest fish domestications. Genetic analysis points to domestication at least 1,000 years ago.

    Sources: Kwon 2022, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  2. 1840–1849

    A gift from the King of Siam

    The King of Siam, who regulated and taxed fish fights, gave some of his fish to the physician Theodore Cantor (1840). Cantor described them in 1849 as Macropodus pugnax.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  3. Around 1850

    Long-finned lines

    Selection for beauty rather than fighting produced longer-finned bettas, likely in place when Europeans and Americans arrived in numbers. In 1850 Pieter Bleeker also erected the genus Betta.

    Sources: Betta Territory: tail types, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  4. 1874–1910

    Spreading west

    Bettas reached France (1874, Pierre Carbonnier), Germany (1896), Australia (by 1904) and probably the United States (1910).

    Sources: Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  5. 1910

    The name Betta splendens

    Charles Tate Regan separated the Siamese fighting fish as a new species, Betta splendens (splendid fighter), in a revision published in 1910.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  6. Around 1960

    Veiltail, doubletail and delta

    Warren Young (US) bred very long-finned bettas that became the modern veiltail, Indian breeders produced the doubletail, and Dr. Eduard Schmidt-Focke (Germany) bred the first deltatail.

    Sources: Betta Territory: tail types, Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  7. 1967

    International Betta Congress

    Breeders founded the IBC, the first organization dedicated to bettas, to breed healthier, more symmetrical fish.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish

  8. Late 1960s

    An unexpected marble

    Hobbyist records say the marble pattern appeared in Orville Gulley's black bettas in Indiana, US. First culled as a flaw, it is now the base of the koi and fancy patterns.

    Sources: FishStores: marble

  9. 1980–1993

    From super delta to halfmoon

    Peter Goettner and Paris Jones (US) developed the super delta (1980). Guy Delaval (France) reached a 180° spread in 1987, and Laurent Chenot, Rajiv Masillamoni and Jeff Wilson stabilized it. Their halfmoon won Best of Show at the 1993 IBC show in Tampa.

    Sources: Betta Territory: tail types

  10. 1997

    The crowntail from Indonesia

    Ahmad Yusuf and breeders in Slipi, West Jakarta, introduced the serit (crowntail). This Indonesian form now has its own IBC standard.

    Sources: Betta Territory: tail types, Radar Tulungagung, IBC 2025

  11. 2000s

    Modern plakats, giants, dumbos and dragons

    Crossing traditional plakats with halfmoons produced the halfmoon plakat; the IBC split the traditional and show plakat standards in 2005. Thai breeders developed the giant, the dumbo and the dragon scale (around 2004, using Betta mahachaiensis).

    Sources: Betta Territory: plakat, Betta Territory: dragon, Nice Betta: dragon, Nice Betta: dumbo, Distankan Buleleng

  12. 2012

    New relatives from Thailand

    Thai researchers (Kowasupat and colleagues) described Betta mahachaiensis and Betta siamorientalis, two close relatives of the ornamental betta.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Betta

  13. 2022

    The betta genome decoded

    Two genome studies in Science Advances showed that all ornamental lines come from B. splendens with wild-species introgression, found dmrt1 as the sex-determining gene, and mapped loci for long fins, Dumbo, Giant and color.

    Sources: Kwon 2022, Zhang 2022

  14. 2025

    A growing genus

    78 Betta species are now recognized. Two new species, Betta iaspis and Betta mulyadii, were described in 2025.

    Sources: Wikipedia: Betta

Glossary

Terms hobbyists, breeders and judges use often.

Plakat
From Thai pla kat (biting fish). A short-finned betta descended from fighting fish.
Serit
The Indonesian name for the crowntail, from the rays that stick out like comb teeth.
Flaring
When a betta spreads its fins and gill covers to display or threaten; the best moment to judge finnage.
Sarang busa (bubble nest)
Mucus-coated air bubbles the male builds at the surface to hold the eggs.
Pengeram mulut (mouthbrooder)
A species that keeps eggs and young in a parent's mouth instead of a bubble nest.
Labirin
An extra breathing organ that lets bettas breathe air straight from the surface.
Indukan
An adult fish chosen for breeding.
Burayak
Fry, from hatching until they swim and feed on their own.
F1, F2, F3
The first, second and third generations of offspring from a pairing.
Outcross
Pairing fish from unrelated lines to add genetic diversity.
Linebreeding
Pairing close relatives to fix a trait.
Geno
A fish carrying one recessive allele without showing it, such as a melano-geno.
Kompleks spesies
A group of closely related, similar species, such as the splendens complex.
Introgresi
Genes passing from one species into another through crosses, such as wild-betta genes in ornamental bettas.
Iridesen
Shimmering color from light-reflecting cells (iridophores) rather than pigment, such as blue, green and steel.
Opaque
A dense white layer that hides the colors beneath.
IBC
International Betta Congress, the betta hobby organization founded in 1967 that writes the show standards.

Sources

References used for this encyclopedia. Scientific papers and the IBC standards come first; origin stories from breeders and sellers are written as hobbyist records.

  1. IBC 2025: International Betta Congress, IBC Exhibition Standards Book 2025 (opens in a new tab)
  2. Kwon 2022: Science Advances, Genomic consequences of domestication of the Siamese fighting fish (Kwon et al., 2022) (opens in a new tab)
  3. Zhang 2022: Science Advances, The genetic architecture of phenotypic diversity in the Betta fish (Zhang et al., 2022) (opens in a new tab)
  4. Wikipedia: Siamese fighting fish: Wikipedia, Siamese fighting fish (opens in a new tab)
  5. Wikipedia: Betta: Wikipedia, Betta (genus): species and complexes (opens in a new tab)
  6. Betta Territory: tail types: Betta Territory, Historic overview on tailtype development (opens in a new tab)
  7. Betta Territory: colors: Betta Territory, Color definitions and genetics (opens in a new tab)
  8. Betta Territory: dragon: Betta Territory, The dragon betta (opens in a new tab)
  9. Betta Territory: plakat: Betta Territory, Plakat standard proposal (opens in a new tab)
  10. Inglorious Bettas: Inglorious Bettas, Betta genetics: color and form (opens in a new tab)
  11. FishStores: marble: FishStores.org, Marble betta (opens in a new tab)
  12. Nice Betta: dragon: Nice Betta Thailand, Biography of the dragon betta fish (opens in a new tab)
  13. Nice Betta: dumbo: Nice Betta Thailand, History of the dumbo betta fish (opens in a new tab)
  14. Radar Tulungagung: Radar Tulungagung (Jawa Pos), Crowntail Slipi, ikan cupang asli Jakarta yang diakui dunia internasional (opens in a new tab)
  15. Distankan Buleleng: Dinas Pertanian dan Ketahanan Pangan Kabupaten Buleleng, 5 jenis ikan cupang populer berdasarkan bentuknya (opens in a new tab)
  16. Gramedia: Gramedia, Jenis ikan cupang dan gambarnya (opens in a new tab)
IBC StandardsScience Advances (2022)

Genetics without false promises

Phenotype means observable traits. Genotype means genetic makeup; a photograph or variety name alone cannot establish it. A pedigree requires recorded parents and breeding history.

A Science Advances study (2022) mapped genetic associations for fin shape and colour. Long fins are associated with a locus containing kcnj15; mosaic patterns involve multiple loci. Population findings are not DNA test results for fish offered for sale.

F1, F2, and later generations describe recorded breeding generations, not guaranteed purity, colour stability, or show quality.

Explore recorded lines and pedigrees

Sources and transparency

An educational guide, not IBC certification. Buying decisions still rest on the photos and videos of the fish for sale.