# Cross breeding



## craeture (Sep 12, 2019)

I know it is possible to cross wild bettas species with domestic type splendid, but I am curious about what the offspring would actually look like. For example, if you were to breed an alien hybrid with a Plakat, what would the fry look like? Would they have a patchy colour or would they mix the wild's pattern and the planet's colour?


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I have no actual experience nor have I discussed it with others. But theoretically speaking, offspring should inherit half of both genes. Not all fry will look the same, some more to wild, some more plakat, and some may look totally different (color pattern). Color also depends on what color genes the plakat carries (assuming the wild type carries all of the color genes)

From what I see, wild types can pass on metallic genes, eventually creating the copper and dragons we see today. It slightly changes how splenden genes combine.


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

Crossing Alien hybrid (hybrid, predominately mahachai) with plakat (splenden) would create fatter/shorter bodied hybrids/aliens. Color would depend on the genetics/color of the plakat (because most if not all aliens are metallic,full mask/partial mask,spread iridescence). 

As for crossing other species, results may vary, for example 
Crossing male Splenden (black dragon) with Imbellis female (wild type brown) yielded 100% females with wild type brown body and red fins.

Imbellis/Splenden hybrid female (wild type brown, red fins) crossed with male splenden (Turqoise, spread iridiscence) yielded some fry with imbellis-like color patterns (red crescent, see picture below)as well as some fry that resembled normal multicolor/redwash splendens. Behaviour wise, they are very shy and will seldom flare in the presence of humans.


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## craeture (Sep 12, 2019)

Thank you for the info! What would the fry look like if you were to cross a hybrid with a long tailed splenden?


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

The term hybrid refers to a wide spectrum of different species that have been crossed, such as aliens that have metallic colors or imbellis/ splenden hybrids that may have very little iridescence. Choosing one hybrid vs another can drastically change the results so I cant exactly say "how" the resulting fry would look like, However... as for the tail type... 
I would imagine it is very similar to crossing a long fin(HM 4-6 rays) with a Plakat (round tail 2 rays), which results in a poor delta/veil mix tail caudal (see image below). eventually the caudal reached a length similar to that of other long fins, but had a very unbalanced and uneven appearance.


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## Sim Pern Chong (Oct 2, 2019)

Its seems some domestic bettas are not fully compatible with wild imbellis. As I have cases of low survivability of fries from breeding Imbellis with domestic (masked bettas). Most of these fries do not reach free swimming stage. And those few that do grow up resembles only the wild type (imbellis).


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## Sim Pern Chong (Oct 2, 2019)

RickyTan said:


> Crossing Alien hybrid (hybrid, predominately mahachai) with plakat (splenden) would create fatter/shorter bodied hybrids/aliens. Color would depend on the genetics/color of the plakat (because most if not all aliens are metallic,full mask/partial mask,spread iridescence).
> 
> As for crossing other species, results may vary, for example
> Crossing male Splenden (black dragon) with Imbellis female (wild type brown) yielded 100% females with wild type brown body and red fins.
> ...


Nice hybrid.


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

Sim Pern Chong said:


> Its seems some domestic bettas are not fully compatible with wild imbellis. As I have cases of low survivability of fries from breeding Imbellis with domestic (masked bettas). Most of these fries do not reach free swimming stage. And those few that do grow up resembles only the wild type (imbellis).


I have experienced similar problems as well...when crossing certain wild types such as smaragdina with splenden the fry never reach the swimming stage. In my last cross of hybrid imbellis with splenden, I observed well over 30 fry attached to the bubble nest , however, less than 5 made it to free swimming, and only 3 survived to adulthood. 

Attached below is a phylogenetic tree, species in the same group may have an easier time crossing (lower pre/post zygotic barriers), such as mahachaiensis with splendens may have more viable fry compared to imbellis with splendens because they are more closely related.


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## Sim Pern Chong (Oct 2, 2019)

RickyTan said:


> I have experienced similar problems as well...when crossing certain wild types such as smaragdina with splenden the fry never reach the swimming stage. In my last cross of hybrid imbellis with splenden, I observed well over 30 fry attached to the bubble nest , however, less than 5 made it to free swimming, and only 3 survived to adulthood.
> 
> Attached below is a phylogenetic tree, species in the same group may have an easier time crossing (lower pre/post zygotic barriers), such as mahachaiensis with splendens may have more viable fry compared to imbellis with splendens because they are more closely related.


Thanks for the interesting observation. I have always assumed that Imbellis and Splendens are the most closely related. In fact, older literature even labelled Imbellis as Splendens.


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## FrogTastic (Sep 24, 2019)

Recently bred the Imbellis with a domestic splendens without any issue. Have about 80 or so fry growing.


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

If you dont mind me asking, did you breed male imbellis or male domestic, and did you breed wild caught or tank bred/raised imbellis?

The reason i ask is novice importers/breeders often mistake wild type splendens for imbellis.


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## FrogTastic (Sep 24, 2019)

No problem. I imported afew wild type splendens, imbellis and imbellis hybrid “Alien” from Indonesia. In addition, I purchased a full red domestic splendens from my local pet store.

Prior to the 2nd batch of imports arriving, I had







one imbellis male in a community tank with 2 pet store domestic splendens females. Without me knowing they bred.

I’ve attached a picture of the male 


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

The male definitely looks like a variation of imbellis species. 

Perhaps crossing imbellis male to female domestic splenden yields different recombination of DNA than those of imbellis female and a male domestic splenden, such as in certain species of sunfish that hybridize can create viable, sterile or in some cases a "new" third species that can only interbreed with each other or one of the parent's species

There are a lot of unknowns in betta genetics, breeders often do not document and even if they do, access to the newest information is usually kept for personal use, or not shared due to profit/business.


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## FrogTastic (Sep 24, 2019)

I have a pair of wild type splendens which I plan to breed with Imbellis both ways. 


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