
Looking at the betta market in Thailand, the home of bettas, there have been some small new faces lately, but no large new faces like the Koi Betta or Candy. Candy, which we used to look at with excitement a few years ago, is now mass-produced and can be easily purchased, even though individuals that were previously expensive and out of reach. A beautiful species with blue spots on a black background that was called Avatar when it first appeared seems to now be better known in Thailand as Black Star. High-grade individuals of this species still command a reasonable price.


Thai Flag, which was a hot topic when it was first introduced due to its high price, is now quite affordable and is no longer out of reach. Looking at the Thai betta scene in spring 2024, this sense of stagnation remains the same in Plakat. In this column, I try to introduce new varieties that have appeared in Thailand as soon as possible, but in this situation, it is unfortunate that there is no story to introduce in Plakat. Despite this, there is still an area in which new varieties are appearing in Thailand. These are improved wild varieties.

In the past, color mutations of the Benjarong variety of Splendens were mainstream, but recently, existing Plakat bloodlines have been introduced, and hybrid varieties with other species such as Smaragdina have also appeared. These improved wild varieties are not popular with everyone, but they seem to have a certain number of enthusiasts. However, since slightly unusual colors and shapes are popular in the market, new varieties are always in demand, and there is a feeling that existing varieties are being neglected. To take an extreme example, varieties released a year ago are not being maintained and are no longer on store shelves.
Smaragdina Guitar Copper, which I introduced in a previous column, is now almost never seen in Chatuchak. This is sad, as I thought it was a pretty good new variety. Instead, new varieties are being released one after another, but I wonder if any of these will still be around in a few years? This time, I would like to introduce Splendence Candy, one of these new varieties.


As the name suggests, this is a cross between a wild Splendens and a Plakat Candy. When I asked the breeder, he told me that it took three generations of breeding a male Splendens with a female Candy to restore the wild body type. The body type is typical of the Benjarong type with an elongated tail fin in the middle, but the colors are quite varied. Some individuals are recognizable as Candy by anyone, but there are also individuals with colors that are more like those of the Koi Betta family and would not be recognized as Candy unless you were told. In order to introduce this variety, I ended up purchasing more model individuals than usual, but every time I went to the shop, I couldn't ignore the new colored individuals. The shop owner, as if he could see through me, recommended new individuals.


This is especially true this time, as all the individuals other than the typical Candy coloring were quite attractive. With so many different phenotypes, it seems quite difficult to choose the sex to use for the next generation. It would be easy if we were to stick to the Candy phenotype, but the other individuals also have their own attractive qualities, so we look forward to the breeder's discerning eye. We are looking forward to seeing what this variety will look like in a year.