# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Anabantoids >  sex of Betta splendens

## dinosor

how to see the sex of betta?
Crowntails (CT) and Halfmoons (HM) ..

** er.. that time i went teo's and gan's with some buddy here.. who is that with his gf ?? forgetten the nick. hehe..  :Smug:

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## chin

Well, I may not be right, but male and female bettas can best be differentiated by:

1. Females tend to have a shorter body length compared to the male; and matured females will have a distinctive buldge around its belly.

2. Males nearing its maturity tend to build a bubble nest on the water surface, often triggered by water changes or when a female is present.

I do hope I have answered to your question but of course if there's anything else anyone would want to add please do share.

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## rucixiangfeng

i think in female's body, you can see a white area, not so clear la, but you can see, that is her ovary.

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## chin

Oh yes, there'll be a small white spot below her belly, which is supposed to be her ovary. There's a name to it though. I'll get it checked and let you know again soon!.  :Grin:

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## hwchoy

you guys referring to _Betta splendens_ only right? There are 60 species of Betta and the sexual dimorphism amongst them are quite varied.

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## chin

I didn't know that there was a difference in the "tell-tale" signs among the _Betta_ _splenders family._ I'm sharing through my experience with CTs and HMs.

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## hwchoy

CTs and HMs are _Betta splendens_, unless the breeding for finnage has swarmed out their normal signs. In general females have deeper body (i.e. not so slim) and anal fin is rounded at the tip (applies to most labyrinths I assume also applies to splendens). Males generally have much more extended finnage, longer ventral fins, and pointed or extended anal fin.

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## ADA

Do note that sometimes female betta do create bubble nest too, especially in the absence of a male. For me, I will look out for the white spot as described above as well as the slight bluge in the belly for eggs.

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## ApistoRanch

The male female differnts in CTs and HMs are as easy as night and day. Unless you're asking about younger CTs and HMs like 5 weeks and under. Then mostly all the female fry will have a strip running down the sides. but as in adults or juveniles it's simple the tail and mainly dorsal fins that tell male , female.

Male HM


female HM


Male CT


I don't have a female CT as i bred my male CTs to Plakat (PK) females. But the female CT is tons differnt then the male way shorter fins and less pronounced spikes. Now HMPKs (halfmoon plakats) male and females takes some real looking. A lot of people confuse PKs (plakat) with round tail and short tails. 

here's a HMPK male


female HMPK


If you have any other questions let me know

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## Nina

very simple to tell the males from the females.

males are very colorful and the girls will be less and some times drab, BUT some females will surprize you and actually have some nice coloring to them.

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## gills

the white spot under the belly is an ovipositor.

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