Marine Beta's

[Navarre]

Hi everyone,
Sorry, I know this is a freshwater Beta section but I thought you might like to see the only marine Beta available to us salty guys

Ok i know its not the same family but the body shape and fins are very similar. Ita a very shy fish so i took these photos of it whils stillin the bag. Hope you enjoy the piccys and ihavent upset anyone by posting this here )

 

[Ben]

thats fricking awsome!!!
more pics when its in the tank

 

[cation]

Very cool! I can definitely see the physical similarities that made you think of bettas!

 

[Navarre]

Well its actually called a Marine Beta (or Comet) but its not the same family of course. I do miss my bettas from freshwater days so its nice to have a fish with a similar shape

 

[cation]

His ventrals are to die for. Thanks for sharing him with us.

 

[yungnhopless562]

THATS another kind of beta??? its awesome but biggg as far as i can see lol very cool

 

[bkk_group]

nice fish, but just so everyone is clear, it's not a 'betta" as it's not of the same family, kind of looks like one though

 

[Navarre]

Agreed, its not the same family. Its what is commonly called a Marine Beta, i guess because of the similarities in loks. It is actually a member of the grouper amily and is a predator of small fish and crustaceans It grows to about 5 inches.. possibly 4 in captivity. Just thought i would share this with you as I mentioned above, I do miss my Bettas and this kinda helps fill a very fond memory i had of them. )

Glad you liked the piccys though

 

[GuppyDude]

how hard are they to keep? they are frikin awsome

 

[Navarre]

Very easy to keep, you just gotta give em lots of hiding places, caves and overhangs are their favorite places so they can stick their heas in the cave and poke their tails out (so they look like large moray eels).
In the wild the hunt their prey side-on. Flairing up their fins to trap and prevent escape. When its prey see's the tail spot it usually mistakes it for the eye and darts in the other direction (towards the head!).

In an aquarium they dont require large swimming space as they just hang around (as groupers do ) If the are in with quick eating fish then they can suffer, Betas can move fast to corner they prey but they like to inspect their prey first!

The best way to feed them is to get a bit of chopped cockle or mussle on some tweesers and feed them by hand twice per week.

Not very demanding fish to be honest and a great looker

p.s. sory for starting a thread about a fish thats not a true beta (it wasnt my intention). )