The first documented domesticated form of the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) was a Spadetail. That was in 1849. At that time certainly fighting fishes were bred for a long time, but they resembled more or less the wild fishes and were selected only for their fighting characteristics. The appearance of these animals was a minor matter. Only much later, when fighting fish were bred for export as ornamental fish to Europe and the USA, were veil-finned animals also bred. This was shortly after the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.
Nowadays the spadetail has largely disappeared. We have now received very interesting and rare spadetails with yellow ground color and bright yellow gill cover stripes (in the wild species these are red) from Thailand, the mother country of fighting fish breeding. Short-finned fighting fish are generally called pla kat.
During the photo session we had to look carefully the animals did not hurt each other. Because unlike most Betta splendens, the animals of the Pla kat Yellow cheek Spadetail bite very early, when other forms still display harmlessly for a long time. Our trick: there were 10 adult females in the tank. So the males always dsiplayed only briefly (a few seconds) and were immediately distracted from each other again by the ladies. We can therefore assure you, dear readers, that all fighting fish involved in the photo session were brought back into their single rooms completely unharmed,
For our customers: the animals have code 390071 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos. Frank Schäfer
