The history of betta

Here is a brief history on fighting fish. I gather the information from several resources on the internet.

The common name for Fighting Fish is Siamese Fighting Fish which are also scientifically known as Betta Splendens. It is originally found in Thailand. They also can be found in Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and also in Brunei. They could be found in the shallow paddy rice fields, murky ponds and even in a slow moving stream.

About 150 years ago, Siamese people started to fight Bettas. It is so popular that the King of Siam started to regulated and taxed it. The king of Siam then gave a pair of fighting fish to Dr Theodor Cantor. He bred and studied them for several years and published an article on it an named them Macropodus Pugnax. The fishes are later renamed as Betta Splendens by Mr Tate Regan.

The original wild fighting fish are dull with greenish brown body colour compared to today's fighting fish which are colourful and have different fins type. After about 80 years, breeders across the world have developed many strains of fighting fish that you can see today.