0_Wizard
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes 
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae).
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Betta
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Evolution of fish
The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish lineages belong to the Agnatha, or jawless fish. Early examples include "Haikouichthys". During the late Cambrian, eel-like jawless fish called the conodonts, and small mostly armoured fish known as ostracoderms, first appeared. Most jawless fish are now extinct; but the extant lampreys may approximate ancient pre-jawed fish. Lampreys belong to the Cyclostomata, which includes the extant hagfish, and this group may have split early on from other agnathans.
Betta
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish. All the "Betta" species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in "B. chanoides" to 12.5 cm (5 in) in the Akar betta ("B. akarensis"). Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.
Evolution of tetrapods
The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. Tetrapods are categorized as a biological superclass, Tetrapoda, which includes all living and extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. While most species today are terrestrial, little evidence supports the idea that any of the earliest tetrapods could move about on land, as their limbs could not have held their midsections off the ground and the known trackways do not indicate they dragged their bellies around. Presumably, the tracks were made by animals walking along the bottoms of shallow bodies of water.
Sarcopterygii
The Sarcopterygii or lobe-finned fish (from Greek σαρξ "sarx", flesh, and πτερυξ "pteryx", fin) – sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii ("fringe-finned fish", from Greek κροσσός "krossos", fringe) – constitute a clade (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fish, though a strict cladistic view includes the terrestrial vertebrates. The living sarcopterygians are two species of coelacanths and six species of lungfish; additionally, all tetrapods are sarcopterygians or descendants of them (including humans). Early lobe-finned fishes are bony fish with fleshy, lobed, paired fins, which are joined to the body by a single bone.
Tetrapod
The superclass Tetrapoda (from Greek: τετρα- "four" and πούς "foot") contains the four-limbed vertebrates known as tetrapods (); it includes living and extinct amphibians, reptiles (including dinosaurs, and its subgroup birds) and mammals (including primates, and all hominid subgroups including humans), as well as earlier extinct groups. Tetrapods evolved from a group of animals known as the Tetrapodomorpha, who in turn evolved from ancient Sarcopterygii lobe-finned fishes around 390 million years ago in the middle Devonian period; their forms were transitional between lobe-finned fishes and the four-limbed tetrapods.
Fish fin
Fins are usually the most distinctive anatomical features of a fish. They are composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body with skin covering them and joining them together, either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as seen in sharks. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles. Their principal function is to help the fish swim. Fins located in different places on the fish serve different purposes such as moving forward, turning, keeping an upright position or stopping. Most fish use fins when swimming, flying fish use pectoral fins for gliding, and frogfish use them for crawling.
Fish anatomy
Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fishes. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology complement each other, the former dealing with the structure of a fish, its organs or component parts and how they are put together, such as might be observed on the dissecting table or under the microscope, and the latter dealing with how those components function together in living fish. The anatomy of fish is often shaped by the physical characteristics of water, the medium in which fish live.
1_Apprentice
I love bright colored fish - they're so elegant!
0_Wizard
Sure they are!Also, Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish.
The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish.
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Betta
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Siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens"), also sometimes colloquially known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish. Bettas can be territorial fish and are prone to high levels of aggression towards each other. Two males in proximity will almost always attack each other, if they do not have the ability to escape this will usually result in the death of one or both of the fish. Female bettas can also become territorial towards each other if they are housed in too small an aquarium. It is typically not recommended to keep male and female bettas together, except temporarily for breeding purposes which should always be undertaken with caution.
Betta
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish. All the "Betta" species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in "B. chanoides" to 12.5 cm (5 in) in the Akar betta ("B. akarensis"). Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.
Anabantoidei
The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or labyrinth fish. Some labyrinth fish are important food fish, and many others, such as the Siamese fighting fish and paradise fish, are popular as aquarium fish. The labyrinth organ, a defining characteristic of fish in the suborder Anabantoidei, is a much-folded suprabranchial accessory breathing organ. It is formed by vascularized expansion of the epibranchial bone of the first gill arch and used for respiration in air.
Fishkeeping
Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a piscicultural fishkeeping industry, as a branch of agriculture. Fish have been raised as food in pools and ponds for thousands of years. Brightly colored or tame specimens of fish in these pools have sometimes been valued as pets rather than food. Many other cultures kept fish for both functional and decorative purposes. Ancient Sumerians kept wild-caught fish in ponds, before preparing them for meals. Depictions of the sacred fish of Oxyrhynchus kept in captivity in rectangular temple pools have been found in ancient Egyptian art.
Penang betta
The Penang betta ("Betta pugnax") is a species of gourami native to Southeast Asia and common in swiftly flowing forest streams of the Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Sumatra, and the Riau Islands. In addition to its native range, the species has been introduced to Guam. It can be found amongst the vegetation growing along the banks. This species can reach a length of SL. It is one of the mouthbrooding "Betta" species. This species, as a natural predator of mosquito larvae, has found use in mosquito control efforts. Prior to its being eclipsed in Western public recognition by the mass-imported "B. splendens" (the Siamese fighting fish), "B. pugnax" was well known as a fighting fish, as denoted by the specific epithet of "pugnax", attracting the interest of scientists studying animal behaviour at least as long ago as the 1880s.
Paul Matte
Paul Matte (1854–1922) was a German tropical fish expert, importer, and fish breeder, and was a pioneer in the importing and breeding of the first tropical fish species to reach Europe. He lived in Berlin-Lankwitz, Germany. In 1866 he imported the first goldfish ("Carassius auratus") to Germany from Japan, and the offspring were referred to as the "Matte-strain". He was the first to breed the Paradise fish and Siamese fighting fish in Germany. In 1896 he imported ten pairs of Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens") to Germany from Moscow, from the strain bred by Pierre Carbonnier in France. In 1897 he imported and bred the first specimens of the banded gourami ("Trichogaster fasciata") to Europe.
Thale Noi Non-Hunting Area
Thale Noi Non-Hunting Area (alternate spelling: Talae or Talay) is a protected fresh water wetland located in Phatthalung province, southern Thailand. Covering an area of 460 km², the wetlands are situated approximately 20 km inland from the east coast peninsula of the Gulf of Thailand and 115 km north of the Malaysian border in Satun province. Thale Noi Non-Hunting Area is one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in South East Asia. It is the smallest, northernmost basin in the chain of lagoons that form Songkhla Lake, spreading across three provincial boundaries into Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Songkhla provinces and is home to the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin ("Orcaella brevirostris").
1_Apprentice
Ah, now I've heard of Siamese fighting fish. They're amazing. I'd love to have some of those!
0_Wizard
Siamese fighting fish.  known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family 
The Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens"), also sometimes colloquially known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish.
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Siamese fighting fish
partner_0_Siamese_fighting_fish
Siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens"), also sometimes colloquially known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish. Bettas can be territorial fish and are prone to high levels of aggression towards each other. Two males in proximity will almost always attack each other, if they do not have the ability to escape this will usually result in the death of one or both of the fish. Female bettas can also become territorial towards each other if they are housed in too small an aquarium. It is typically not recommended to keep male and female bettas together, except temporarily for breeding purposes which should always be undertaken with caution.
Anabantoidei
The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or labyrinth fish. Some labyrinth fish are important food fish, and many others, such as the Siamese fighting fish and paradise fish, are popular as aquarium fish. The labyrinth organ, a defining characteristic of fish in the suborder Anabantoidei, is a much-folded suprabranchial accessory breathing organ. It is formed by vascularized expansion of the epibranchial bone of the first gill arch and used for respiration in air.
Betta
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish. All the "Betta" species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in "B. chanoides" to 12.5 cm (5 in) in the Akar betta ("B. akarensis"). Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.
Macropodusinae
The Macropodusinae are a subfamily of freshwater perciform fishes in the gourami family Osphronemidae. Like all members of the family, these are air breathing fishes that frequently inhabit oxygen poor environments hostile to other fishes (the licorice gouramies of "Parosphromenus" inhabit well-oxygenated, but extremely soft and acidic, blackwater streams). They are native to Asia, from Pakistan and India to the Malay Archipelago and north-easterly towards Korea. Many members are common aquarium fish; by far the most famous is the Siamese fighting fish, "Betta splendens" (note that the domesticated form is very likely a hybrid).
Fishkeeping
Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a piscicultural fishkeeping industry, as a branch of agriculture. Fish have been raised as food in pools and ponds for thousands of years. Brightly colored or tame specimens of fish in these pools have sometimes been valued as pets rather than food. Many other cultures kept fish for both functional and decorative purposes. Ancient Sumerians kept wild-caught fish in ponds, before preparing them for meals. Depictions of the sacred fish of Oxyrhynchus kept in captivity in rectangular temple pools have been found in ancient Egyptian art.
Paul Matte
Paul Matte (1854–1922) was a German tropical fish expert, importer, and fish breeder, and was a pioneer in the importing and breeding of the first tropical fish species to reach Europe. He lived in Berlin-Lankwitz, Germany. In 1866 he imported the first goldfish ("Carassius auratus") to Germany from Japan, and the offspring were referred to as the "Matte-strain". He was the first to breed the Paradise fish and Siamese fighting fish in Germany. In 1896 he imported ten pairs of Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens") to Germany from Moscow, from the strain bred by Pierre Carbonnier in France. In 1897 he imported and bred the first specimens of the banded gourami ("Trichogaster fasciata") to Europe.
Penang betta
The Penang betta ("Betta pugnax") is a species of gourami native to Southeast Asia and common in swiftly flowing forest streams of the Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Sumatra, and the Riau Islands. In addition to its native range, the species has been introduced to Guam. It can be found amongst the vegetation growing along the banks. This species can reach a length of SL. It is one of the mouthbrooding "Betta" species. This species, as a natural predator of mosquito larvae, has found use in mosquito control efforts. Prior to its being eclipsed in Western public recognition by the mass-imported "B. splendens" (the Siamese fighting fish), "B. pugnax" was well known as a fighting fish, as denoted by the specific epithet of "pugnax", attracting the interest of scientists studying animal behaviour at least as long ago as the 1880s.
1_Apprentice
Where do they live normally. I know they live in water, but I mean do they need deep water or shallow water?
0_Wizard
Shallow water as well as deep. they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth.
Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth.
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Respiratory system
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary history. In land animals the respiratory surface is internalized as linings of the lungs. Gas exchange in the lungs occurs in millions of small air sacs called alveoli in mammals and reptiles, but atria in birds. These microscopic air sacs have a very rich blood supply, thus bringing the air into close contact with the blood.
Rebreather
A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is added to replenish the amount metabolised by the user. This differs from an open-circuit breathing apparatus, where the exhaled gas is discharged directly into the environment. Rebreather technology may be used where breathing gas supply is limited, such as underwater or in space, where the environment is toxic or hypoxic, as in firefighting, mine rescue and high-altitude operations, or where the breathing gas is specially enriched or contains expensive components, such as helium diluent or anaesthetic gases.
Fish
Fish are the gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Tetrapods emerged within lobe-finned fishes, so cladistically they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish are rendered paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods (i.e., the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals which all descended from within the same ancestry). Because in this manner the term "fish" is defined negatively as a paraphyletic group, it is not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology.
Betta
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish. All the "Betta" species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in "B. chanoides" to 12.5 cm (5 in) in the Akar betta ("B. akarensis"). Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.
Evolution of tetrapods
The evolution of tetrapods began about 400 million years ago in the Devonian Period with the earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes. Tetrapods are categorized as a biological superclass, Tetrapoda, which includes all living and extinct amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. While most species today are terrestrial, little evidence supports the idea that any of the earliest tetrapods could move about on land, as their limbs could not have held their midsections off the ground and the known trackways do not indicate they dragged their bellies around. Presumably, the tracks were made by animals walking along the bottoms of shallow bodies of water.
Freediving blackout
Freediving blackout, breath-hold blackout or apnea blackout is a class of hypoxic blackout, a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia towards the end of a breath-hold (freedive or dynamic apnea) dive, when the swimmer does not necessarily experience an urgent need to breathe and has no other obvious medical condition that might have caused it. It can be provoked by hyperventilating just before a dive, or as a consequence of the pressure reduction on ascent, or a combination of these. Victims are often established practitioners of breath-hold diving, are fit, strong swimmers and have not experienced problems before.
Fish physiology
Fish physiology is the scientific study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. It can be contrasted with fish anatomy, which is the study of the form or morphology of fishes. In practice, fish anatomy and physiology complement each other, the former dealing with the structure of a fish, its organs or component parts and how they are put together, such as might be observed on the dissecting table or under the microscope, and the later dealing with how those components function together in the living fish. Most fish exchange gases using gills on either side of the pharynx (throat).
1_Apprentice
Well, that's interesting. I always thought fish couldn't breathe air! what else do you know about these lovely creatures?
0_Wizard
mouthbrooding species are sometimes called "pseudo bettas", and are sometimes speculated to have evolved from the nest-builders in an adaptation 
The mouthbrooding species are sometimes called "pseudo bettas", and are sometimes speculated to have evolved from the nest-builders in an adaptation to their fast-moving stream habitats.
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Betta
Betta is a large genus of small, often colorful, freshwater ray-finned fishes in the gourami family (Osphronemidae). The best known "Betta" species is "B. splendens," commonly known as the Siamese fighting fish. All the "Betta" species are small fishes, but they vary considerably in size, ranging from under 2.5 cm (1 in) total length in "B. chanoides" to 12.5 cm (5 in) in the Akar betta ("B. akarensis"). Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air using a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles.
Siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish ("Betta splendens"), also sometimes colloquially known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish. Bettas can be territorial fish and are prone to high levels of aggression towards each other. Two males in proximity will almost always attack each other, if they do not have the ability to escape this will usually result in the death of one or both of the fish. Female bettas can also become territorial towards each other if they are housed in too small an aquarium. It is typically not recommended to keep male and female bettas together, except temporarily for breeding purposes which should always be undertaken with caution.
Mouthbrooder
Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a variety of different animals, such as the Darwin's frog, fishes are by far the most diverse mouthbrooders. Mouthbrooding has evolved independently in several different families of fish. Paternal mouthbrooders are species where the male looks after the eggs. Paternal mouthbrooders include the arowana, the mouthbrooding betta "Betta pugnax", and sea catfish such as "Ariopsis felis".
Cichlid
Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a suborder known as Labroidei, along with the wrasses (Labridae), damselfishes (Pomacentridae), and surfperches (Embiotocidae). This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,650 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed. The actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000. Many cichlids, particularly tilapia, are important food fishes, while others, such as the "Cichla" species, are valued game fish.
Teleost
The teleosts or Teleostei (Greek: "teleios", "complete" + "osteon", "bone") are by far the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, and make up 96% of all extant species of fish. This diverse group arose in the Triassic period, and members are arranged in about 40 orders and 448 families. Over 26,000 species have been described. Teleosts range from giant oarfish measuring or more, and ocean sunfish weighing over , to the minute male anglerfish "Photocorynus spiniceps", just long. Including not only torpedo-shaped fish built for speed, teleosts can be flattened vertically or horizontally, be elongated cylinders or take specialised shapes as in anglerfish and seahorses.
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and some fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own, using brood mimicry, for example by having eggs that resemble the host's (egg mimicry). Brood parasitism relieves the parasitic parents from the investment of rearing young or building nests for the young, enabling them to spend more time on other activities such as foraging and producing further offspring. Bird parasite species mitigate the risk of egg loss by distributing eggs amongst a number of different hosts.
Betta pallifina
Betta pallifina is a species of gourami endemic to the island of Borneo. This species can reach a length of SL. The dorsal fin has seven to nine soft rays, the pectoral fin eleven to fourteen and the anal fin twenty-seven to thirty-two. There are thirty-two to thirty-four scales along the lateral line. Coloring is very vivid, especially in the males. They are a tan/brown, with green and blue iridescence, more noticeable in the males. Adult males' gill plates are adorned with metallic scales that range from sky blue to gold, depending on the lighting. They have a black spot on the base of their caudal fins which are lanceolate in shape.
1_Apprentice
Really? What else can you tell me - this is fascinating.