# General > AquaTalk >  Wild Bettas in Singapore?

## Sky Devil

DO anyone of you know whether is there a list of Wild Bettas in Singapore? 
I'm bringing in pure wild betta Splendens, Betta Simplex and hopely Betta Pi and Betta Pugnax to breed. Thought of releasing some into the waterways and streams of Singapore to let them Propagate 

Is that a good idea?

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## jonapur

Seriously,i had not seen a wild betta before.So i not sure.Heard they are the largest in size.

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## hwchoy

Betta is the genus to which the siamese fighting fish _Betta splendens_ belong to. There is a large number of betta species (by definition = wild) distributed in Southeast Asia. You can check out this site.

In Singapore the only native Betta is the _Betta pugnax_, so if you want to release specimens I suggest only the pugnax.

BTW how do you make sure your _B. splendens_ is truly wild? Apparently a lot of aquarium strains in thailand had escaped back into the wild and it is hard to tell.

ps: the species name (or epithet) is never capitalised, only the genus is.

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## jonapur

I had jus went to the site.I am very confused but thanx bro for introducing me to the site. Those really fierce fighter that gives instant death belong to which species?

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## TanVincent

here are the list of bettas you will be able to find in Singapore, mostly owned by fish keepers.

Betta Splendens
Betta Pugnax
Betta Imbellis
Betta Smaragdina
Betta Coccina
Betta Brownorum

As for wild species, I am not too sure.

Hope it helps.

Cheers
Vincent

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## hwchoy

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> On 11/14/2003 2:08:58 PM 
> 
> I had jus went to the site.I am very confused but thanx bro for introducing me to the site. Those really fierce fighter that gives instant death belong to which species?
> ----------------


there are two main species of Betta used for fighting (as in &amp;quot;entertainment for boys&amp;quot :Wink: , the _Betta splendens_ and the _Betta smaragdina_. Both are native to Thailand, the splendens in the south and smaragdina in the north. I believe their range overlap a little. So you will find Thais in the south fighting with _Betta splendens_ and those in the north fights with _B. smaragdina_.

As for those &amp;quot;beautiful&amp;quot; fighting fish commonly found in Singapore shops, they are aquarium strains of _Betta splendens_, more commonly called Fancy Betta. You would not find &amp;quot;half-moon&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;crown-tail&amp;quot; etc in a Thailand swamp.

Let's see some pics (all taken from the IBC SMP site):

WILD _Betta splendens_ and biotope in Saraburi, Thailand.

 


_Betta smaragdina_ and biotope in Ban Phue, Udon Thani, Thailand.

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## hwchoy

there are quite a number of wild betta species available in Singapore, here are some of those that I have kept:

_Betta brownorum_ male



_Betta coccina_ male (from Jambi, Sumatra)



_Betta livida_ male and female (from North Selangor swamp, Malay peninsula), endangered.

 

_Betta rutilans_ male (from Kalimantan)



_Betta sp. 'antonii'_ male



_Betta sp. 'Pangkalanbun'_ male (from Pangkalanbun, Kalimantan Tengah)

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## Betta Almighty

nice pics hwchoy.....they r really a beauty. Havant seen any LFs selling these fishes b4.

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## TanVincent

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> On 11/14/2003 2:52:13 PM 
> 
> nice pics hwchoy.....they r really a beauty. Havant seen any LFs selling these fishes b4.
> ----------------


You would seldom come across wild species of bettas in LFS. Approach people who are into betta keeping and they will guide you to the relevant person to speak to. For the common imbellis, you can approach Kelvin (zhizz in arofanatics).

I used to breed coccinas, I bought them at Rainbow at Seletar Farmway. Look for Diana.

Cheers
Vincent

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## hwchoy

> ----------------
> On 11/14/2003 2:52:13 PM 
> 
> nice pics hwchoy.....they r really a beauty. Havant seen any LFs selling these fishes b4.
> ----------------


you can try Biotope (check LFS list). you can also join the Singapore Wild Betta Club where you will be able to chat with other Betta maniacs and be the first to chope fishes that others want to let go. To join go to Yahoo group or (I think) send mail to [email protected].

In fact just managed to buy 1 male and 2 female _Betta sp. 'Mahachai'_ yesterday.

_Betta sp. 'Mahachai'_ male, female and biotope in Mahachai, Samut Sakorn, Thailand.

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## Sky Devil

> ----------------
> On 11/14/2003 1:51:55 PM 
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> 
> BTW how do you make sure your _B. splendens_ is truly wild? 
> ----------------


I'll have to trust the Thai breeder that's supplying me with these wonderful wild bettas!

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## Sky Devil

The fighters belong to Splendens but most fighters are crossed to imbellis for their sharp teeth. I have lots of fighters

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## Sky Devil

> In fact just managed to buy 1 male and 2 female _Betta sp. 'Mahachai'_ yesterday.
> 
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how much did you bought your Mahachai for? I dun wan Mahachai as they are too common

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## hwchoy

mahachai common? in Singapore?  :Smile:  anyway bought it from a fella in the Wild Betta Club list.

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## hwchoy

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> On 11/14/2003 8:00:07 PM 
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> On 11/14/2003 1:51:55 PM 
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heh! get wild bettas from breeders!?  :Razz:

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## jonapur

All this pictures are gorgeous!I like it alot.I will be going to Bangkok on sat.Hope i found some rare species.

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## Sky Devil

> ----------------
> On 11/14/2003 8:06:10 PM 
> 
> mahachai common? in Singapore?  anyway bought it from a fella in the Wild Betta Club list.
> ----------------


Yep, there's alot of Betta aquarium selling them

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## Sky Devil

> heh! get wild bettas from breeders!?  
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They catch it from the streams and waterways

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## hwchoy

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> On 11/15/2003 5:19:42 PM 
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yes, that's back to the original problem I asked about. no one is really sure even if you catch it in the streams whether they're not descended from escaped aquarium strains. however I guess it is quite academic if you're not trying to study their gene pool or investigate locality variations.

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## Sky Devil

But they are registered in the Wild Betta list of IBC. I mean the breeders

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## hwchoy

> ----------------
> On 11/16/2003 9:20:58 AM 
> 
> But they are registered in the Wild Betta list of IBC. I mean the breeders
> ----------------


oh, that's good. that's probably going to be as closed to guaranteed wild strain as you can get.

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## Sky Devil

Well, i'll drop the idea of releasing them but anyone here is interested to own some?

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## aqua

me me me !!!!

can contact me at [email protected] if u plan to give out some.
thanks

 :Smile:

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## hwchoy

releasing pugnax is fine.

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## Sky Devil

I'm only letting them to people who knows and breeds them

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## ban_tse

> ----------------
> On 11/16/2003 4:07:17 PM 
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> I'm only letting them to people who knows and breeds them
> ----------------



so that means forummers that you don't know do not stand a chance of getting wild bettas from you?

guess i'll keep searching...

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## Sky Devil

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> On 11/20/2003 2:14:33 AM 
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they do, but they must promise me to breed them :Wink:

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## Sky Devil

I'm beginning my Betta Mahachai and Betta Smaragina breeding program late next month. So if everything is successful (normally it does), the fry will be ready for sale at cheap price in 2-3 months. Are you guys interested?

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## hwchoy

don't mind the smaragdina  :Smile:  but I am very poor at breeding. my mahachai has made a bubble nest, but the problem is that I'm not sure if I have a pair as the &amp;quot;female&amp;quot; is also displaying quite deep red/green coloration. Is this normal? It is much smaller than the &amp;quot;male&amp;quot; with a less &amp;quot;powerful&amp;quot; head.

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## Sky Devil

The female will have a huge egg sac and at the bottom of the stomach, will have a white spot. Its usually smaller den the male also.
The female usually has shorter ventrals den the male

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