Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anabantiformes (Gouramies, snakeheads) > Osphronemidae (Gouramies) > Macropodusinae
Etymology: Betta: Malay/Javanese origin. Bleeker (1850, 1858) indicates Ikan Wadder Bettah as the local name of Betta trifasciata Bleeker, 1849 (now Betta picta, Valenciennes, 1846) in the Ambarawa Javanese dialect. Ikan Wader is a common Javanese name for smaller freshwater fishes, especially cyprinids (already used in Old Javanese). See Blust, R. & Trussel, S. Austronesian Comparative Dictionary. Web Edition (https://www.trussel2.com/acd/); pulchra: The Latin pulcher means handsome, alluding to the beauty of this fish.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 3.9 - 4.2. Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia: restricted to Pontian, Johor, West Malaysia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 56613)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1 - 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 9; Anal spines: 1 - 2; Anal soft rays: 22 - 26; Vertebrae: 29. In comparison with other members of the B. pugnax species group, this can be differentiated by the following combination of characters: presence of chin-bar; absence of dark marks below postorbital stripe on opercle; presence of dorsal transverse bars; caudal transverse bars present only in male; greenish iridescent scales on opercle and body; anal fin with red subdistal border and black edge; caudal fin without distal dark edge; anal-fin rays 24-28 (mode 26); lateral scales 28-30 (mode 29); postdorsal scales 10-11 (mode 10); pelvic fin length 29.1-53.2% SL; head length 32.7-37.6% SL; inter-orbital width 34.3-41.8% HL (Ref. 56613).

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Inhabits peat swamp forests (Ref. 84801). Occurs in blackwater habitats and commonly found only in the overgrown bank vegetation of the irrigation canals. Paternal Mouth brooder (Ref. 13220).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Exhibits paternal mouthbrooding habit.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Tan, H.H. and S.H. Tan, 1996. Redescription of the Malaysian fighting fish Betta pugnax (Teleostei: Belontiidae), and description of Betta pulchra, new species from Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bull. Zool. 44(2):419-434. (Ref. 13220)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 17 January 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith

Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
Collaborators

Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00377 - 0.02651), b=2.97 (2.74 - 3.20), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.2 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Betta pulchra Tan & Tan, 1996