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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: Siamese fighting fish
Synonyms and Other Names: betta, beta
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Witte and Schmidt (1992) discussed the genus and provided an identification key to species. They treated B. splendens as a valid species, but also recognized a B. splendens species complex. Many color variants have been developed by aquarists. See Axelrod et al. (1985) for color photographs of live fish.
Size: 6 cm.
Native Range: Tropical Asia. Native to Southeast Asia including the northern Malay
Peninsula, central and eastern Thailand, Kampuchea, and southern
Vietnam (Witte and Schmidt 1992).
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Hawaii |
Caribbean |
Interactive maps: Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean
Nonindigenous Occurrences: Specimens ranging from 1-3 cm were taken from the Thames River drainage in Connecticut (Whitworth 1996). Specimens were collected from Lake Worth Drainage District canal L-15, adjacent to an aquarium fish farm west of Atlantis in Palm Beach County, Florida (Ogilvie 1969; Courtenay et al. 1974), but have not been found at that locality in subsequent years (Courtenay and Hensley 1979a). A population became established in a canal south of Holmberg Road in Parkland, northern Broward County. When first discovered in December 1975, it was a dominant fish; however, the population was killed by extremely cold weather in January 1977 (Courtenay and Hensley 1979a; Courtenay et al. 1984; Courtenay and Stauffer 1990).
Means of Introduction: Florida records are the result of probable escapes from local ornamental fish farms (Courtenay and Stauffer 1990). Connecticut records are probably aquarium releases.
Status: Reported and formerly locally established in Florida (Courtenay et al. 1984). Reported from Connecticut.
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks:
A supposed report of Betta splendens in Hiko Spring, Lincoln County, Nevada, was false (W. Courtenay, personal communication).
Voucher specimens: Florida (UF 97046).
This species is proven through experimentation to be an alternative host to the native mussel glochidia of Lampsilis cardium and Utterbackia imbecillis (Watters and O'Dee 1998).
Axelrod, H. R., W. E. Burgess, N. Pronek, and J. G. Walls. 1985. Dr. Axelrod's atlas of freshwater aquarium fishes. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., and D. A. Hensley. 1979a. Survey of introduced non-native fishes. Phase I Report. Introduced exotic fishes in North America: status 1979. Report Submitted to National Fishery Research Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gainesville, FL.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., D. A. Hensley, J. N. Taylor, and J. A. McCann. 1984. Distribution of exotic fishes in the continental United States. Pages 41-77 in W. R. Courtenay, Jr., and J. R. Stauffer, Jr., editors. Distribution, biology and management of exotic fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., and J. R. Stauffer, Jr.. 1990. The introduced fish problem and the aquarium fish industry. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society 21(3):145-159.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., H. F. Sahlman, W. W. Miley, II, and D. J. Herrema. 1974. Exotic fishes in fresh and brackish waters of Florida. Biological Conservation 6(4):292-302.
Ogilvie, V. E. 1969. Illustrated checklist of fishes collected from the L-15 Canal (Lake Worth Drainage District) in Palm Beach County, Florida (collection date November 8, 1969). Unpublished Report for the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. 10 pp.
Watters, T.G. and S.H. O'Dee. 1998. Metamorphosis of freshwater mussel glochidia (Bivalvia: Unionidae) on amphibians and exotic fishes. Am. Midl. Nat. 139: 49-57.
Whitworth, W. R. 1996. Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut. State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, Bulletin 114.
Witte, K. E., and J. Schmidt. 1992. Betta brownorum, a new species of anabantoid (Teleostei: Belontiidae) from northwestern Borneo, with a key to the genus. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 2(4):305-330.
Other Resources:
Gulf of Mexico Program
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico
Revision Date: 8/26/2004 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico. 2009. Betta splendens. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=326> Revision Date: 8/26/2004
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