Odysseus has arrived!

[NorthernLights]

Although he comes up to me and hangs out in whatever part of the tank is closest to me, as soon as I try to get a picture, he hides. I'll have to describe him for now.

He is a deep royal blue with royal blue fins and tail -- except for the two paired fins. His pelvic fins are scarlet and his pectoral fins are royal blue at the base and white in a butterfly pattern. He has very large dorsal and anal fins and an amazing tail, all the same color as the body, with a deep red streak in the anal fin. Interestingly, his dorsal fin is broader at the top than the base, rather than coming to a point.

His tail is…well, I am not quite certain. He was marked as a half-moon, but he is definitely not as large as a half-moon. He looked most similar to the fish marked as deltas (except that he hasn't chewed up his tail like most of the deltas had), and the manager agreed with me that he was an exceptionally beautiful delta. Having looked at him for longer now, I am not sure what to call it. It's very symmetrical like a big delta except the edges are not straight, they are more curved back. It's a bit like a VERY large round tail. It's quite fanned out when he swims around, and the effect on his tail, dorsal, and anal fins remind me of a rose-tail effect, if it is possible to have that on a less than half-moon.

He weathered the ride home in good spirits and is now in his future hospital tank (1 gallon heated bare-bottom with a silk anubias and a small plastic amazon sword, tips trimmed of course). I figured he'd want to hide, and I also had a little igloo and another silk plant on standby, but he seems uninterested in hiding (except from the camera!) -- he's definitely an adventurous spirit!

He seems to want food -- but I am afraid to feed him yet. He had uneaten bloodworm in his cup at the store, with some other bits of pellets; the folks at the store told me someone new fed the fish yesterday and massively overfed all the bettas. Should I wait until tonight, or even tomorrow? I have both New Life Spectrum and Omega Betta Buffet.

[RandyTheBettaFish]

He sounds beautiful! If he looks blaoted, then wait until tomorrow to feed. Otherwise try to feed maybe one pellet tonight and see if he eats it.

[NorthernLights]

It is VERY hard to get a good shot of my guy. He hides from my phone as if it were Godzilla and I can't get my computer to hold a great angle. Here's the best I have. What do you think, Round Tail or Delta?

[registereduser]

whoa, gorgeous deep blue. I would say delta but I'm no expert.

[NorthernLights]

Well, after MUCH staring, I think he's either a delta or a super delta, and I am leaning super delta because of the ruffled look of his tail. Now I am debating whether he is a butterfly or a multicolor. He's solid royal blue everywhere except for his pelvic and pectoral fins, and a deep red diagonal stripe on his anal fin. He pectoral fins are royal blue at the base and white toward the tips, and his pelvic fins are deep red with white tips. There is banding of color like a butterfly, but not on all the fins, and not in the circular pattern I associate with butterfly markings. What do you think, multicolor?