# Another Female!



## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

I just picked up a new female betta from the LFS. I'll grow her out awhile in her own tank then move her to the big tank. 

I generally look for unusual females. This one is white with two horizontal stripes, one going through the eye to the nose. She may get some red on the jaw. I looked it up, and am pretty sure she is a betta macrostoma, not splendins.

She also has that black spot at the base of the tail between the lines.

I've heard these are a bit nicer in groups. The males are gorgeous.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

I am hoping this shows up. The back lighting is horrible, but you can see the black stripes. She looks exactly like betta macrostoma pictures on line. Now, are they real or fake I do not know. I will try to get a better picture. 
She is a little squirrely right now, and won't stay still. I also have a horrible camera that will not take micro action shots.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

Here is a much better picture taken this morning. I had to move her to take the picture, so she faded a little. She is about 1.25 inches long.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

Okay, I have just read that this may be a baby male betta. AmIRight?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

While she shows the coloration, her face is all wrong. To me she looks like a splendens complex female, though not a fancy splenden. I am thinking, as well as a friend she is a smaragdina. Which is a wonderful species!


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

majerah1 said:


> While she shows the coloration, her face is all wrong. To me she looks like a splendens complex female, though not a fancy splenden. I am thinking, as well as a friend she is a smaragdina. Which is a wonderful species!


Yes that did bother me, the males have more of a bull dog face. The females are featured in so few decent photos that it is hard to tell if they are gracile or more robust in the nose. I have decided that if she colors out all black in a month, she is a male plackat, and if she keeps her lines, she is something like you say. Smaragdina? I will research the breed. Sounds fun. 

Here she is showing more color. I tried for hours to get a clear photo where you can see the red fins/tail I saw and the blue line all around it. Either way, I hope she is a female, not a male, because I don't have spare tanks for males.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

I got it, I think she might be Betta Imbellis! The red pectoral fins, the blue line and reddish tail, even the sort of orange eye! Now to see if as she gets older she will get deeper red fins.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

These are a few of my females I have had. Defo not a mac.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

She is indeed female and could easily be a hybrid of several species. She would be a short finned female so if you do plan to spawn her, it would work out best with a plakat. You can tell she is not herself a male due to the level anal fin as well as how short the are. Plus her ventrals are short. 

And btw that last photo I posted was just to show off Grump heheh

Edit: also here is a good shot of the face of a female mac.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

I am not really planning on breeding her. If she had been a mac or rare fish like that I suspect I would have had to find her a home with an expert, or tried it myself. If she had been a mac, I would have had to see to it that she contributed to the gene pool. As a Smaragdina or anything else, I would not have the additional burdon of contributing to the demise of a species, or perhaps aiding in its renewal. My conscience would not allow me to keep her.


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