There is no accounting for taste. But without any doubt the name “Mustard Gas”, which is one of the most disgusting chemical weapons, is a bad offense against good taste. The fish nevertheless are extremely beautiful. It is said that initially an US breeder named Jude Als has bred the first Mustard Gas Bettas. However, these pure breeding animals have looked very different. They had a blue or green body and yellow fins.
Nowadays bettas with the label “Mustard Gas” are bred mainly in SE-Asia. These fish are black (=melanotic) with orange or yellow fins. The fins have a black seam. In breeders language they are melanotic butterfly bettas.
Breeding melanotic bettas is difficult enough, for the females are usually infertile. So the breeder has to breed with females of other than black colours. The gene that is responsible for melanotic body coloration is hidden (recessive), so the offspring of the first cross looks completely like the mother. One has to cross back the daughters on the father or the siblings to get black, melanotic animals. Breeding melanotic butterfly bettas is even more complicated. This is the reason why Mustard Gas bettas are comparably rare and more expensive than other bettas.
For our customers: the fish have code 390623 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Thailand |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 5-6 |
