456 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



BETTA SPLENDENS Regan 



Bctfa splendcns Regan, 1910, p. 782 (Siam).— Myeks, 1926, p. 97 (Siam).— Smith, 

 1927a, p. 126 (Siam) ; 1927cl, p. 217 (Siara) ; 1930, p. 60 (Siam).— Choola, 

 1930, p. 91 (Siam).— Smith, 1932b, p. 181 (Siam).— Fowler, 1934a, p. 146 

 (Cheingmai, Metang River); 1935a, p. 137 (Bangkok).— Smith, 1937b, p. 

 264, pi. (Siam). 



Bctta pugnax Bleeker, 1865 (356), p. 173 (Siam). — von Martens, 1876, p. 395 

 (Bangkok).— Sauvage, 1881, p. 160 (Siam). 



This, the celebrated fightingfish of Thailand, has a wide natural 

 distribution in ponds, ditches, drains, and sluggish waters generally 

 throughout the country. It does not appear to have been indigenous 

 to any other country, but it is now to be found around the world because 

 of its attractiveness, hardiness, and adaptability to small aquariums. 



The maximum length of wild fish is about 5 cm. for males, females 

 being somewhat smaller. A length of 6 to 6.5 cm. is attained by male 

 fish bred in captivity. 



Earlier references to this species were usually under the name of 

 Betta fugnax (Cantor). It remained for Regan in 1910 to point out 

 that B. pugnax is native to the island of Pinang and that the Thailand 

 form is distinct. 



For several hundred years the fish has been used locally for sporting 

 purposes, and for more than 90 years it has been domesticated and cul- 

 tivated. Cultivation has increased the size, improved the colors, and 

 enhanced the fighting qualities. 



The habits, cultivation, and fighting of this fish are the subjects of 

 a rather voluminous literature. Accounts based on first-hand infor- 

 mation and personal observations and experience have been published 

 by the present writer (1937a, 1937b). From the latter account the 

 following statements have been abstracted : 



In a wild state the fighting fish is an inconspicuous, I'etiring little creature, 

 seeking protection from the glare of the sun's rays and from fish-eating birds 

 like egrets, herons, and kingfishers by hiding beneath and among water plants. 



The general coloration of a quiescent fish is dull grayish brown or green with 

 or without obscure dark lateral bands, and conveys no suggestion of the won- 

 derfully brilliant hues assumed by the male under proper stimulation. Under 

 the stress of excitement the male fish exhibits a remarkable change. All the 

 fins are widely spread, the gill membranes are expanded and project like a frill 

 or rulf suggestive of the raised hackles of fighting cocks, and the entire body 

 and fins become Intensely suffused with a lustrous blue or red color, which makes 

 the figliting fish one of the most beautiful of all fresh-water fishes. The normal 

 incitement to the display of latent colors is the approach of another male, but 

 the same effect is produced when a fish sees his reflection in a mirror. 



Observations on fishes kept under the most favorable conditions in aquaria 

 indicate that this species is normally short-lived. Possibly as a result of its 

 strenuous activity and rapid metabolism, possibly because its span of life is pre- 

 determined by some immutable hereditary requirement, the fish in Siam appears 

 to reach its age limit in 2 years, but under domestication in colder climates a 

 somewhat greater age may be attained. 



