The Ugliest Fish in the World

[nobleduck]

I'm so glad you saved her! I'm sure she has a nice personality!

[Jupiter]

She's a cutie! I second the name Sparrow.

[lastbook87]

Originally Posted by Mister Sparkle

That body shape doesn't strike me as B. splendens. Perhaps it could be mixed with a spendens, but the lack of good color and the body shape remind me a little bit of B. pugnax.

Well, I googled it, and she looks even more like that in person than she does in the picture. No bother to have her, though--she'll be something very different from my other girl! And I guess that mean she's officially "Sparrow," too. It's an appropriate name for a "Forest Betta."

Thanks so much to everyone for all the answers and encouragement. I shall pass the good wishes and compliments along to her. :)

[Mister Sparkle]

I don't blame you. I LOVE the wild-type betta species!

[1fish2fish]

She can't be mixed with a wild type. You can't breed two different species. She looks like a splendens to me. I seriously doubt a wild type would end up in a walmart. Those fish are not cheap and the fry of them would not end up at a pet store.. much less death-mart.

She looks like a chocolate VT to me. She'll probably color up once she's in a nice tank.


FYI.. I just found this out recently and thought I'd share. Technically there is no such thing as a Pineapple betta. That color is not recognized by the IBC and all so-called "pineapples" are actually classified as chocolates. :)

[newfishmom]

We have some sparrows that have yellow bellies and some that have red bellies so even if she does show some color the name will still fit!

[Betta Slave]

She's pretty, in a way. I wonder if she'll color up a teeny bit?

[Mister Sparkle]

Originally Posted by 1fish2fish

She can't be mixed with a wild type. You can't breed two different species.

Not true. It happens A LOT! Not only that, but I suspect there is a high possibility we aren't even looking at a female!

[Mister Sparkle]

Just doing a quick look in Google images...

Here's a B. splendens x B. imbellis (most of our bettas actually have some imbellis in them!):


Here's a cross between B. splendens x B. smaragdina:



I don't know if there's ever been much succes in a splendens x pugnax project, but such things are not out of the question!

[lastbook87]

Well, with all the dissenting opinions, I will definitely remember to post pictures once I get her home and in a real tank. As far as her possibly not being a "her" goes, I can't see the little white dot--but that doesn't mean anything. My vision's so crappy that my glasses and contacts make it impossible for me to see anything that small up close.

She stress stripes very, very easily, too. When I change her water, she looks almost as bad as she did in the cup, but she also settles down very quickly. She also eats like a pig! I'm not over-feeding her, but she gulps down what I give her immediately. So I guess, all in all, Sparrow's an interesting little fish.

I'm also heading back to Walmart later today to see if that poor CT boy is still there (and alive). He might have to live in his cup until I get home on Saturday, but at least it will be a clean cup. Bah. Alternately, I may fill up a bottle with conditioned water and try and refill some of the cups that are there. I can't buy them all, sadly...