Last year, two new species were added to the Splendens group, which has a relatively small number of species within the Betta genus. One type is Betta mahachaiensis, which was introduced in this column last time, and the other type is Betta siamorientalis. In this column, I will report on the details of this newest Betta Siamese orientalis.

A paper describing this species was published in Vertebrate Zoolog in December 2012. The authors are the group led by Chanon, Bhinyo, and Pintip from Mahidol University in Thailand, who described Betta mahachaiensis. Apparently, while organizing specimens from other splendens groups in order to describe Mahachaiensis, they came to the conclusion that this species is a new species. It is distributed in Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Sa Kaeo, and Prachin Buri in eastern Thailand, and also appears to be partly distributed in Cambodian territory adjacent to Thailand. The species epithet of this species, siam, is of course the old country name of Thailand, and orientalis means eastern, meaning that it is distributed in eastern Thailand.

A paper describing this species was sent to me by email in December last year from Dr. Koterat, a Swiss ichthyologist with whom I am close friends. A quick look at the paper gave me the impression that it would be a little unreasonable to classify it as a separate species. Even when I looked at the photos published in the paper, it looked like nothing more than a regional variation of Splendens. I had previously gone to Chachoengsao in eastern Thailand, which is the main habitat of this species, to collect betta fish, but on that occasion I was only able to collect young fish, so I was unable to confirm this species. Ta. There were many open-air betta shops lining the roads near the betta's habitat, and to be honest, I had lost a bit of interest in it because they were selling hybrids made by crossing local bettas with other species.

However, since it was described as a new species, there must be some basis for it, and it must have been studied. Next time I have a chance to go to Thailand, I would definitely like to collect them with my own hands and photograph them. This time, I finally got the chance and was able to go collecting. First, when I researched the location where the holotype was collected in the paper, I found out that it was a place called Bangla in Cha Chaengsao, so I headed for that location. After searching for the location by looking at road signs and asking locals, I arrived at a familiar place where I had collected betta fish before. That place was exactly the habitat they were aiming for. I felt a little regretful, wishing I had raised the young fish properly a few years ago and confirmed their marital color. I already have information on where you can get betta fish in this area. Shortly after putting the net in, a young fish came in. Like other betta fish, it seems to be hiding in the shade of plants near the shore.

After continuing to collect while kicking the grass with my feet, I finally found a male that was showing its matrimonial appearance. However, it's smaller than expected. It is so large that it is impossible to tell the sexes of other bettas at this size. It was about 2.5cm long and was already colored, and the largest specimen was about 3cm long. This is the smallest betta of the Splendens group that I have collected so far. To find out what the maximum size is, I'll have to keep it as a pet and see what happens. I was able to secure about XNUMX males for photography, so I carefully packed them one by one and took them home. In addition to this species, other fish found in this habitat included the cloaked gouramy, Boraras urophthalmoides, Clarias, and almond snakehead.

Although this species is already colored when it was just collected, the shock of collecting it has faded the color and it is not in a condition where it can be identified. I set up a breeding bottle in my hotel room and started raising them individually. After a few days, the injured fins healed, and when I showed them the male in the next bottle, they started fin-spreading. When observing this species, it is true that the body color of this species is quite black, which is why it is also called Black Inbellis. The red edge of the caudal fin and the red rear end of the anal fin are very similar to Betta inbellis. What is decisively different from Inbelis is the color of the gill cover. This species has no blue color at all and is almost black. Depending on the condition, two thin red lines may appear, but they are not as noticeable as on Splendens. When you observe these characteristics with your own eyes, you realize for the first time that this species is an independent species. After keeping it as a pet for a while, the wounds on its body and fins have healed, and the photo was taken after it had gotten used to the aquarium. When I put two males in the same tank, they immediately started fighting. The pale body color gradually turned black, and the blue color became more vivid. I was fascinated and clicked the shutter. The features become more noticeable when photographed. This species is definitely different from Splendens and Inveris. However, females do not have any special characteristics, so if they were mixed with Inveris, it would be impossible to tell them apart.

A betta fish with characteristics very similar to this species was previously imported from Vietnam via the ornamental fish route. Details such as where they were collected are unknown, but considering their distribution area, they are far apart and it is difficult to believe that they are the same species. This time, for your reference, I would like to post a photo of this type of betta fish from Vietnam. The betta fish from Sihanoukville in Cambodia, which I previously introduced in this column, appears to be a new species. As you can see, the area around the Splendens Group bettas, which had been quiet until now, is starting to get a little lively. Smaragdina has a wide distribution range, and there seems to be a move to separate fish from certain localities into separate species. If there are any other developments, I will introduce them in this column.