Are long fins on a betta fish a recessive gene?

[finnfinnfriend]

Does anyone know? Any breeders out there?

[bettalover2033]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

To answer both your questions, YES there are actually MANY breeders on this forum.

And NO, the long finned gene is not recessive. The long finned gene is very dominant and the short finned gene is recessive.

[finnfinnfriend]

Originally Posted by bettalover2033

Hello and welcome to the forum!

To answer both your questions, YES there are actually MANY breeders on this forum.

And NO, the long finned gene is not recessive. The long finned gene is very dominant and the short finned gene is recessive.

Hello! And thank you for the warm welcome! :)

Anyway...that's interesting....so why do wild betta have short fins?

[bettalover2033]

Originally Posted by finnfinnfriend

Hello! And thank you for the warm welcome! :)

Anyway...that's interesting....so why do wild betta have short fins?

Well that is a great question. Though my personal belief is that they have short fins to get away from their enemies faster and were built to survive otherwise they would be eaten and or killed. Just imagine if the average Halfmoon aka long finned betta was to be in the wild. They would never be Abe to swim fast enough to get away from predators.

It's like askin, why do people have feet?

[tpocicat]

Think of it this way, how many long finned fish do you see in the wild? Long fins aren't good for survival.

[bettalover2033]

Originally Posted by tpocicat

Think of it this way, how many long finned fish do you see in the wild? Long fins aren't good for survival.

Exactly how I explained it.

If we didn't have long feet when we were in out earlier stages, would would never be albe to eat, thus we wouldn't have survived.

Okay I might have just made that a little more complicated.

[CarmanDirda]

Long fins are dominant over short fins. In captivity, it grew to be an advantage (like with mating), while in the wild, it was a disadvantage and would often get them eaten. Same with colors.

[finnfinnfriend]

I think I worded that question wrong, lol. I meant if wild betta have short fins, then why are they a recessive gene?

[bettalover2033]

Originally Posted by finnfinnfriend

I think I worded that question wrong, lol. I meant if wild betta have short fins, then why are they a recessive gene?

The newest species of bettas is the betta splendens which were created many years ago after selective breeding into a more aggressive species of betta.

The original wild bettas have different species within the wilds and are considered a "weaker" species in the sense of being compared to the splendens. Also during the breeding process.

There was actually an article about this.

[indjo]

I was going to let you guys work this out but someone asked me to answer this....

Wild bettas - I'm assuming you mean bettas that live in the wild regardless of their species - including the splendens. I don't think neither species are weaker than the other. They simply developed/evolved the way they did, each having their advantages and disadvantages (I haven't heard about the article).

Why bettas in the wild have short fin - simple: natural selection. I've seen 1 or 2 long finned bettas in the wild, in areas of little to no predators. This tells us that long finned bettas can't evade predators as good as their short finned cousins. After years of naturally selected breeding, they just don't show up much anymore (in the wild). But their genes exists and the form reappeared when domesticated which was then multiplied.

I'm not sure if the ones I saw in the wild were man released or was a natural wild product. But I know that the long finned are slower and always stand out thus become an easy target for predators and humans alike.