# Betta imbellis?



## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

So I recently tossed a new female into my sorority....this new female was purchased at a LFS in chinatown where the owners don't know much about bettas other than being a betta of some sort. After I took a closer look at the fish inside my tank, I realized it is probably not a betta splendens but a betta imbellis rather. 

Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think...


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## Syriiven (Aug 15, 2012)

Look slike it to me, though I'm told buying an imbellus in a store is rare...


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Thank you. I just wanted to make sure I'm not going crazy here....I mean, I swear this fish doesn't have the kind of curves (no pun) my other females have. And I feed them all the same amount.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

That might be a male! Someone more experience should come along to confirm or deny. Do you see a white spot between her ventrals?


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

registereduser said:


> That might be a male!


I can already reassure you this fish is DEFINITELY A FEMALE. I spotted her ovipositor (not visible in these photos) and is easily seen whenever she swims verticle up against the glass. 

Again, her body is just not alike the other females at all! She belly does not buldge out no matter how much I stuff her with food....it just doesn't look like a splendens female belly. Only female imbellis usuall look this flat to me.


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Have no fear wild betta specialist is here. sorry to say but he is not an imbellis but rather a mixed Splenden and also dont have a lot of pure blood in him too. The pictures below will describe to you what an imbellis and a pureblood splendens difference is


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Option said:


> I can already reassure you this fish is DEFINITELY A FEMALE. I spotted her ovipositor (not visible in these photos) and is easily seen whenever she swims verticle up against the glass.
> 
> Again, her body is just not alike the other females at all! She belly does not buldge out no matter how much I stuff her with food....it just doesn't look like a splendens female belly. Only female imbellis usuall look this flat to me.


hes a male no doubt about that. Hes got every male feature


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Setsuna said:


> hes a male no doubt about that. Hes got every male feature


Ok, so how do you explain the ovipositor I see on her? Sorry my pics don't show the right angle. Do you need me to post a photo of her female parts to believe me? :-D

Oh yeah, for the record....I was never looking for an imbellis, this was purely accidentally and I'm actually looking for splendens for my sorority.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Yes. I have heard of males with them.


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Okay first off males only have long ventral fins like this guy Also males can fully open thier gill cover like this guy males have the red line at the bottom of thier gill cover when they flare. If you dont believe me take him out of the big tank put him in a 1gallon tank and let him stay in there for a week or so then take a female out of the tank put her inside a jar next to him he will flare and make a bubble nest


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Setsuna said:


> Okay first off males only have long ventral fins like this guy


That ventral fine is suppose to be big? I have other female splendens with ventral fins that size as well.

BTW you didn't explain the ovipositor phenomenon in this "male" of mine.


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Option said:


> That ventral fine is suppose to be big? I have other female splendens with ventral fins that size as well.
> 
> BTW you didn't explain the ovipositor phenomenon in this "male" of mine.


some males have it some don't there's more don't then the ones that do lol 
but like i say to really confirm that hes a male. put ihm in a 1 gal tank and wait till he starts a bubble nest


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Females bubblnest too.The 1 or 2 days before Betty died she built a bubblenest.


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

LOL....this is driving me crazy. Too many exceptions to the rules....I have heard of females also blowing bubble nests but now males also having ovipositors???? :lol:

WTH is this fish!!!?!?!!!!!????!


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Option said:


> LOL....this is driving me crazy. Too many exceptions to the rules....I have heard of females also blowing bubble nests but now males also having ovipositors???? :lol:
> 
> WTH is this fish!!!?!?!!!!!????!


its just the fact the bettas are unpredictable fishes. but i know that your bettas is a male just breed get a female to brred them so you know for sure that hes a male i on the other hand know that hes a male and not a female


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks like it to me too.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

Option said:


> LOL....this is driving me crazy. Too many exceptions to the rules....I have heard of females also blowing bubble nests but now males also having ovipositors???? :lol:
> 
> WTH is this fish!!!?!?!!!!!????!


It has a lot to do with environmental pollution, there are quite a few fish species that can change sex or be hermaphroditic depending on hormone exposure at key stages of development. The bubblenesting behavior in females is simply a redundancy evolved over time in case the male dies. This way there's a backup parent to raise the eggs.

I agree with Setsuna, I think you've got a male with some mixed domestic/wild genes. His anal fin is too boxy and his dorsal fin is too big to be pure wild blood, at least compared to my own wild imbellis.

One other reason I believe this fish is a male is because it would be much duller if it had inherited wild genes and been a female. Female splendens complex fish tend to be far less colorful than males. My imbellis females are a drab light brown color, while the males are dark with iridescence and bright red areas.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

What do you mean Enviremental Pollution?


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> What do you mean Enviremental Pollution?


I mean runoff from factories, environmental disasters like oil spills, pharmaceuticals that haven't broken down in urine (female hormonal contraceptives, for example, are not broken down), people dumping chemicals into their lawns, the palm oil plantations screwing up natural betta habitats, etc. This all adds up in the water we drink and that bettas live in. There has been a noticeable uptick in fish and amphibian species becoming hermaphroditic or turning into a different sex in waters that are affected by pollution around the world. And some of it is natural. Hermaphroditic traits and mutations occur in nature. Being able to reproduce as either sex is helpful to survival.

Another complicating issue for bettas is that if young males are left together for too long and water isn't changed enough, they emit high concentrations of a hormone that stunts growth. It's possible that this hormone has feminizing qualities that encourage the growth of female features too. Also, temperature changes during development in the egg could cause hermaphroditism.


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Whatever the case may be it seems like I need to get rid of this fish. It is neither a splendens nor a female from what you guys are telling me. And both of these attributes were key...as my tank is a splendens sorority. 

Now I'm not sure how to trade this guy back to the store....:-(


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Its a splenden but not a pure blood. Just keeps him in case you decide to breed them to populate your tank


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## BettaAngel13 (Jul 21, 2012)

I would have to agree with it being a wild type,
Because domestic bettas have more of a hook on the nose 
Rather than the slope in wild bettas and another reason would be 
that wild bettas are the most common source of the fish industry
and my bets are on the betta being wild.


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Setsuna said:


> Its a splenden but not a pure blood. Just keeps him in case you decide to breed them to populate your tank


No thanks. I'm honestly not intersted in mix bloodlines. I realize many splendens argueably are mixed already but at least they still look like spendens. This guy/girl (LOL) here doesn't look like anything recognizable!


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Option said:


> No thanks. I'm honestly not intersted in mix bloodlines. I realize many splendens argueably are mixed already but at least they still look like spendens. This guy/girl (LOL) here doesn't look like anything recognizable!


You guys make me want to hand out free wild type to you guys........


I have kepted show bettas for the longest time now and got tired of them thats why im into wild types now. Guys if you want to learn more about bettas especially the ones from the splenden complex group buy wild types i assure you that you will learn something that you never know before. Show bettas are farm breed there is not much about them except that they are very colorful, pretty, and a wide variety of tail forms they are not shy also. Go buy a pure wild type/wild caught i bet you will learn some new stuff


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Setsuna said:


> You guys make me want to hand out free wild type to you guys........


Dude...quit flattering yourself. For the third time, I was NEVER looking for an imbellis nor any wild-type betta. This fish completely stumbled on me by mistake. And I didn't know what type it was b/c it didn't look like a splendens, so that is why I was asking whether this was an imbellis since it was the only other betta type that it remotely resembled. 

One more time: I do not like imbellis nor was I ever looking for one, personally I think they're ugly to be quite frank about it. LOL


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

Option said:


> Dude...quit flattering yourself. For the third time, I was NEVER looking for an imbellis nor any wild-type betta. This fish completely stumbled on me by mistake. And I didn't know what type it was b/c it didn't look like a splendens, so that is why I was asking whether this was an imbellis since it was the only other betta type that it remotely resembled.
> 
> One more time: I do not like imbellis nor was I ever looking for one, personally I think they're ugly to be quite frank about it. LOL


...........well good luck on your bettas then no one was flattering here but watever im not looking for a argument here. i know you wasnt looking for one but asking if yours was one and all i said was thats yours is a mix i dont know why you getting mad


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I really dont get why people are upset either. Carters IAL arrived.


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## Setsuna (Sep 5, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> I really dont get why people are upset either. Carters IAL arrived.


ikr but just let it go no dramas need to start here


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Okay.


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