Betta splendens are more commonly known as Siamese Fighting Fish. These colorful fish are native to Thailand where they live in the shallow waters of rice paddies and eat insects. The males are very brightly colored with elaborate fins that they purposely expand during mating displays or when fighting other males over territory. The females are much less colorful and have smaller fins.

Bettas make popular house pets not only because they are beautiful but because they are adapted to small spaces and low-oxygen content water, both features of their native environment.  This allows them to be kept in smaller fish bowls with less maintenance.

In addition to their beautiful mating displays, the male betta is the main caregiver when it comes to raising the young. The male will build a nest of air bubbles where he puts the eggs released by the female during mating. He then defends and maintains the nest until the young fish hatch.

Colors - the range of colors that you can find in Bettas can be extremely varied. More common colors include reds, blues and greens, but if you want to put in the time and have the budget, you can also get bettas that have been bred to be yellow, teal, pink, salmon, black or rare mixes.

Fin shapes - when it comes to fin shapes, these details really only apply to the males. Female bettas have very small fins but the males have large and brilliant frills and tails which they can fan out to make themselves appear much larger. Fringes, half-moon, spade tails and more variations are available.  Half-moon bettas are very popular as this term refers to fins which are large half-circles which form near-circles around the fish when all the fins are fanned open.