In November 2017, I went to southern Thailand to survey fish. The first objective was to confirm the habitat of a fish called simplex type II.
We had previously received information that the normal simplex inhabits the town of Aoruk, which is about 60 km away from Krabi in southern Thailand, but during a survey in 2015, Unfortunately I couldn't find it.
Since it was revenge for that, this time I used all my Betta-related connections to get almost perfect information before heading out.
Well, I'll talk about this story later, but I'd like you to first read about Simplex from about 25 years ago.
At that time, I was already hooked on wild betta fish and received an invitation from Mr. Katsuma Kubota, a tropical fish exporter from Thailand.
I received information from Mr. Horst Rinke from Germany that he had found an interesting wild betta in Krabi in southern Thailand, so I asked him if I would like to go look for it.
Of course, there is no reason to refuse. I accepted the offer and flew to Thailand.
Krabi is now a famous marine resort that can be reached by plane from Bangkok, but back then it was just a remote fishing village.
I headed to Krabi by car, using Phuket as my base, and it took me over 5 hours to cover the 160km journey.
This is because at that time, the roads were not paved and the only way to get there was to drive slowly on bumpy roads covered in flying red clay.
After a long struggle to reach Krabi, I searched for a beautiful spring filled with Cryptocoryne that I had learned about beforehand, but unfortunately I was unable to find it.
Feeling frustrated, I drove back to Phuket on the dirt road and remembered that my body was covered in red clay dust.
When searching for living things, it's common for people to try and find something in vain, and it's precisely because of this effort that it's all the more thrilling to actually find something.
After a while, Mr. Kubota tried again and finally found the habitat of the crab! I received a message saying.
I was very disappointed when I heard that I had actually gone very close to it during my previous exploration.
Through these circumstances, Mr. Kubota sent Betta sp. Kurabi to Japan.
At that time, it had not yet been described as a new species, and in the hobby world it was affectionately known as ``Kurabi,'' a type of betta fish.
When it first arrived, the color was somber, but as it settled down, it changed into a beautiful color, and I remember being fascinated by it and photographing it.
In 1994, Dr. Koterat, who is a close friend of myself and Mr. Kubota, described it as a new species and named it Betta simplex.
Since then, I have visited the simplex habitat in Krabi many times and photographed it, but the road from Phuket to Krabi has been paved, and the hardships of the past have become nothing but memories.
Krabi has become recognized for its beautiful sea, and the number of tourists has increased, and it has continued to develop each time I visit, and is now a well-known marine resort.
However, as the number of tourists increases, there are also negative effects, and it is unfortunate that the clarity of the once clear and beautiful Krabi springs has decreased, and it is no longer possible to see any vestiges of the past.
In 1997, I also have fond memories of cooperating with NHK's program ``Living Earth Journey'' and supporting the filming of the breeding scene of Betta simplex.
This program was broadcast in June 1998, but 20 years have already passed, and it always feels like time flies.
After going through this process, the Betta Simplex was released into the world, and its appeal is well understood, and I am happy to say that it still maintains a stable popularity as an ornamental fish.
Now, regarding Simplex in Krabi, I got involved in a lot of things like this, did what I had to do, and then lost most of my interest.
But what about a few years ago? One day, I happened to come across a photo of a simplex with a slightly unusual atmosphere on the internet. This simplex photographed by Zhou Hang appears to be a color variant that lives in different habitats, and is called Type II.
In that case, there are also simplexes with different patterns on their tail fins! I felt so light that I forgot about its existence for a while.
In the spring of 2015, a friend of mine came to visit Thailand from Japan, and we decided to go fishing together in the Krabi area.
At this time, I suddenly remembered the Simplex Type II, and decided to take the opportunity to collect it with my own hands and photograph the individual.
When I take photos, I try to use fish that I have caught and brought home as a model whenever possible.
This is what I pay attention to, and it allows me to be confident in the locality of the fish I photograph. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time during the 2015 survey, and although we were able to collect Betta inbellis, we were unable to reach Type II habitat in Aoruk.
Therefore, we come to the story of 2017's revenge at the beginning.
This time, I started gathering information while I was in Bangkok. This fish, believed to be Type II, occasionally comes into Bangkok through the aquarium trade, so they attempted to trace it back to the fish collector.
However, this information could be called trade secrets and was not easy to obtain.
I told them that I just wanted to take photos of the habitat and individual fish, and that I would never interfere with their business, and in the end I managed to get them to trust me, and I was able to get information about the fish collectors. .
So, in November 2017, I headed from Bangkok to southern Thailand with my buddy Ton driving as usual.
From Bangkok, we passed through Ranong in southern Thailand and arrived at Krabi.
The distance from Bangkok to Krabi is about 800km in a straight line, and the route from Chumphon to Ranong in the west is about 900km, so even if you're used to long distance travel, it still feels far away.
However, I am happy to say that the roads are much better than before.
This area is surrounded by strangely shaped mountains made of limestone, creating a unique landscape.
It is a beautiful sight that excites me no matter how many times I come.
We stayed in the town of Krabi, and the next morning we headed to the town of Ao Luk, about 60km away.
I had Ton call the local collectors, and after waiting for a while on the outskirts of the village, the collectors on motorcycles arrived.
In his hand, he holds a plastic bottle filled with betta.
Isn't this stupid? The collector showed me the fish to confirm.
The tail fin has a characteristic spot pattern.
It is definitely type II.
A motorcycle will lead you to the nearby habitat and guide you.
What we arrived at was a spring where water gushes out from underground.
The wetlands formed by the water that flowed from there appear to be type II habitats.
The fish collector immediately used a plastic colander to collect the fish and show it to me.
In rural Thailand, plastic colanders are often used to collect betta fish.
This net is more functional than a soft net for collecting betta fish hidden in shallow grass.
Best of all, colanders are available everywhere.
The female was caught first, and then the male also entered the monkey.
I heard that the number of Type II species in this area is decreasing, and it has become difficult to collect them recently. When I hear that, I feel reluctant to collect too much. For now, I was able to keep about 10 fish for photography.
In addition to bettas, we also saw dwarf snakeheads, panchax, Trigonostigma espei, and dermogenei in this area.
When I looked at the Type II male I had just collected, it was more colorful and beautiful than I had imagined from the photos I saw online, and its body was slimmer.
Not only the color but also the body shape looks completely different from the simplex from Krabi.
I took it back to Bangkok, put it in an aquarium, and looked at it closely, but no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't believe it was the same species.
I also collected a simplex from Krabi as a sample and brought it home, so even if I put it in the same tank and compared it, it doesn't seem to be a regional variation.
This time, after taking pictures again in Japan, my conviction became even stronger.
For now, it is classified as Simplex Type II in the hobby world, but there is a strong possibility that it will be classified as a different species in the future.
In this column, we also introduce the Simplex from Krabi with new photos.
How do readers feel when comparing these two types? Fortunately, recently, a small number of Aoruk Type II species have been commercially imported to Japan. Like Simplex from Krabi, it is possible to raise them in Japanese water without any adjustment. In addition to frozen bloodworms, they often eat artificial feed once they get used to it, but be careful not to feed them too much and make them fat. I would like you to keep your wild betta fish, not just this species, with a slim body. It seems that the population is decreasing locally, so if you get this Type II from Aoruk, I would like you to aim for breeding and maintain the lineage. Like the Simplex, it shouldn't be difficult to breed with a mouse brooder.
