Question About Mutt Bettas vs Show Bettas

[littlegraytiger]

I was curious as to whether or not there was a significant lifespan difference between the typical mutt betta(Found at Petsmart/Walmart/etc) and the showy fish carefully bred with pedigree and form in mind. I kept bettas for years, but after a catastrophic loss of two female betta colonies I called it temporary quits and switched to three spot

Comments

[acoustic11]

I'm almost positive mutt bettas live longer.

[kittencuffs]

Yes, there's absolutely a difference in life span, and I'll tell you why

[hidden_kitten]

Well, this is what I came here to say!

I'll also add that I don't believe in "pedigree" animals. Selective breeding doesn't mean squat.

[mrs_ralph]

In the UK only red veil tail bettas can be judged in general fish shows for some reason but some colours and configurations of betta have shorter life spans than others. I understand that the pure white red-loss betta was so short-lived that they stopped breeding them entirely. That's not to say that there are no pure white bettas, just they aren't bred with the red-loss gene. There is a problem with black bettas as well though I can't call to mind what exactly that problem was or whether they continued breeding the specific line or not.

[sry4bnazn]

I do believe that black bettas are infertile, and that those sold for breeding are only black laced or something. It's been a few years since I've read up on bettas, so don't take my word for it. But I'm pretty sure that's the problem with pure black bettas.

[kittencuffs]

There are three kinds of black-coloration gene: the melano black gene, the black lace gene and the black marble gene. When you cross a melano male with a melano female, the females of that melano x melano spawn will be infertile. (Males don't seem to be affected.) Because of this, in order to get a good, fertile spawn, you have to cross a melano male with a female of another color that also happens to carry the melano gene recessively, but this will almost certainly result in melano fish with iridescence, and that iridescence is considered a flaw.

Alternatively, you can cross a melano male with a lace or black marble female, but this usually results either in fry that aren't as deep and intense a black as they should be (in the case of a lace mix), or bettas with unpredictable marbling that may become "less desirable" (obviously in the case of a marble mix).

So basically: yes, you're right. :D