bullet betta!?!?! WHAT!

[MadameDesu]

Originally Posted by SnowySurface

Ok. Now I'm confused.

Is this caused by actively cutting off the tail of a young betta with a knife? Or is it caused by a glitch in DNA not forming the tail in the first place? If it is a genetic problem, then my previous comment is a bit off. I thought the breeder was physically cutting tails off of young fish that were born with healthy tails.

Okay, some quick biology.
1. A mutation was found and the mutated strain was bred over and over until the deformity was established.
2. The fish was cut and shaped during development and it cannot be bred into new generations.

I'd say it's more than likely #1. The fin wraps around cleanly with no scars or anything (if fish get scars). I'd expect it to look more damaged if it was cut up ...

[MollyJean]

OMGOSH that's so sad!! It's like half the fish is missing... That poor baby!

[Luimeril]

recently, i found a betta similar to this one on Aquabid. she had no visible tail(to me. after posting it on FB, someone said she HAD a tail, it was just really tiny and almost fused with her anal)....

i say it's a birth defect. he should have been culled the moment the breeder saw it. all his organs are smooshed, and as i said, he couldn't have lasted very long. :<

[SnowySurface]

Originally Posted by MadameDesu

Okay, some quick biology.
1. A mutation was found and the mutated strain was bred over and over until the deformity was established.
2. The fish was cut and shaped during development and it cannot be bred into new generations.

I'd say it's more than likely #1. The fin wraps around cleanly with no scars or anything (if fish get scars). I'd expect it to look more damaged if it was cut up ...

Thanks for the clarification. I still can't figure out why anyone would want to do this. But at least I have a better idea of what they are doing. I personally still see this more as mutilation than breeding for a trait. -_-

[chrissylee13]

in the thread i read it from it said that they physically cut the tails off while their still fry.

[chrissylee13]

and sorry i said mutation! the thread used "mutation" loosely. i did find though that there are some bettas that have no tail but it's because fry siblings ate it. and i think i found one that was born that way.

and my guess is that they probably experimented with how it would look... soo if they actually do cut it off it's probably done in such a way that it looks "nice".

[MadameDesu]

Originally Posted by chrissylee13

and sorry i said mutation! the thread used "mutation" loosely. i did find though that there are some bettas that have no tail but it's because fry siblings ate it. and i think i found one that was born that way.

and my guess is that they probably experimented with how it would look... soo if they actually do cut it off it's probably done in such a way that it looks "nice".

Ahhhh, ok. Wow ... it's a wonder that fish even got to that size. I don't think it'll last much longer

[Olympia]

That is sad and disgusting :(

[MrVampire181]

This is becoming a serious problem on AB with people selling deformed fish to get money for "rarity".

The IBC was raging about such auctions last week. This is why I will NEVER buy from Aquastar... he has too many deformities and I don't trust his lines.

I'll stick to sellers like Chaba and Ploybettas since their fish are great and I have never seen a deformity posted from them on AB.

[Olympia]

Boycotting Aquastar would be a good idea :D People could write to stop this madness.

Honestly I don't think these deformed fish sell well? Or do they?
I don't get who would want a betta without a tail, or something. That's why we love betta. They have beautiful fins and colours.