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SPAWNING EDITH'S BETTA
A BAP Report
by Ilene Alvis, Member KAS
In the last two years I have developed an interest in anabantids, the
less common the better. When I learned that Wayne Yamashita from the
Portland club was offering to sell _Betta edithae_, and
I had never heard of them, I put in
my order for six.
In July, during our Annual Show, Wayne brought the fish up and I saw
Edith's betta for the first time.
Unlike _Betta splendens_, or even _Betta imbellis_, Edith's Betta has
no color and no fins to speak of. They are plain light brown with two
darker lateral stripes and fins shorter than your average female
_Betta splendens_. They actually have little going for them unless
they are in a tank the sun hits, or you shine a flashlight on them.
Then they glitter with turquoise blue sprinkled among their scales and
bands of blue in their tails and anal fins. The difference in color
and fins between the males and females is so slight that it wasn't
until I saw them spawning that I could tell for sure which was which.
The male is larger, although not by much, and the female is the most
aggressive. And during spawning, the female's lateral stripes are very
prominent and the blue in the male is highlighted by a white strip
outlining his tail and anal fin.
These are shy, reclusive fish that you'll never see in a heavily
planted tank. They are not at all aggressive toward tankmates, unless
spawning, and I kept all six of mine together in a ten gallon tank
with never a torn fin to be found.
When I purchased the fish they were about an inch long, and Wayne told
me they were four months old. When they spawned in December, at nine
months old, they were three inches long, thick bodied and very robust
looking. This spawn I did not witness, only believing it had occurred
when I saw that one of the larger fish appeared to be suffering from a
severe case of the mumps. (Did I mention they're mouthbrooders?) Wayne
said he had not had a successful natural hatch; he brooded the eggs
artificially. Well, since I had no idea how to do that, and since I
was really busy at the time. I decided to let nature run it's course.
I removed the other five fish, a somewhat violent operation as they
are very quick and loath to be netted, and left the brooding fish
ah....brooding.
I glanced at the fish every now and again over the next nine days
trying to determine whether or not he was still carrying. His cheeks
looked kind o' blown out, and I didn't offer food but I really wasn't
sure if he still had his fry.
On day nine I started looking for fry, and day ten and day eleven I
still saw nothing. By day twelve I figured he had eaten them and
decided to do a water change before replacing the other Bettas who
were residing with a bunch of young chunas. In the course of moving
the plants around a saw a little pink thing go scooting by, and then
two and then six. Fry! I had actual living fry brooded by the male
Betta!
I caught the male out and put him in with the rest of the Bettas and
the chunas. I did this because Wayne said unlike mouth brooding
cichlids who continue to protect their fry once brooding is finished,
the male Betta became predatory and would eat them if he found them.
The fry were large and could eat brine shrimp nauplii immediately. I
fed them twice a day and they grew quickly eating everything including
flake food. I finally counted them at three months of age and
discovered I had fifty-six of them.
Two weeks later they spawned again and this time I not only saw them,
I video-taped them. It took place in a 10 gallon tank that besides the
six Bettas also held 2 young chunas. It was heavily planted, had a pH
of 6.2, 8 degrees, and was very soft.
The spawning actually started the day before with two females fighting
over a spawning place. I had noticed them circling and biting at each
other most of the day which was remarkable only because I had never
seen these fish fight. On Saturday I saw a female circling a male and
nudging at him, urging him toward the spot I saw the two females
fighting over the day before. I got all excited and employed Bill's
help in setting up the video camera.
After a hour or so I saw the first embrace. They embraced several
times (between chasing off curious chunas) before the first eggs were
produced. The embrace was done with the male nearly resting on the
gravel and the eggs were caught and held in his anal fin. The female
picked up the eggs in her mouth, searched the gravel for more, then
circled the male, nudged him and tried to induce another embrace. I
thought it interesting that it was the female who chose the spawning
area, battled with another for the area, drove the male to it, and
initiated spawning. As the day went on and the spawning continued (for
ten hours), it was always the female who initiated each embrace.
According to the one article I could find on _Betta edithae_ the
female is supposed to spit the eggs at the male and he catches them.
If they fall into the gravel the male won't pick them up but rather
waits for the female to and spit them at him again.
At five hours into the spawning, the female still has a belly full of
eggs and a mouthful as well. In watching the tape I have seen the
female drop a few eggs and the male rushes in to grab them before she
did. I never observed the 'spitting' written about. The actual egg
transfer appeared more random and much less organized.
At the end of ten hours, the last two of which I couldn't tape, the
spawning was completed and the male had a mouthful of eggs. He was
curled up behind a lift tube looking positively miserable. I decided
to move him into another tank to brood his fry in peace.
Unfortunately, he resented this and responded by spitting out the
eggs. This did, however, give me a chance to count them; 100. So how
many did he have the first time? Did he eat some of the eggs the first
time? Or some of the fry? Did he catch some of the fry after brooding?
I don't know. Interesting though.
Shy, plain colored, peaceful, interesting reproductive strategy. It's
not a fish to build a tank around, but definitely worth the keep.
Reference: GOURAMIS AND OTHER ANABANTOIDS, Hans-Joachim Richter,
T.F.H. Publications, Inc, 1988
Reprinted with permission from The Kitsap Aquarian, publication of the
Kitsap Aquarium Society, April, 1995, pages 5-6.
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Revised: September 13, 1999.
