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Betta sp. wajok

15/2/2014

2 Comments

 
Here is another 'species' that I don't know much about. I've been after Betta sp. wajok for a little while now, as I have noticed that there is quite a variation in the appearance of fish that are being sold as such. My pair came from Hermanus Haryanto, and arrived in Australia on the same shipment as my Betta miniopinna. 
Picture
One of my sp. wajok only a few days after arriving.
According to Hermanus, his Betta sp. wajok are bubblenesters. Interestingly, while his fish are very similar in appearance to the red form of Betta rutilans, I have seen fish that resemble Betta sp. cf. rutilans green and who reproduce by mouthbrooding, also described as sp. wajok. 

It is this sort of ambivalence surrounding this fish that both interests and frustrates me. I will be curious to see whether in the future, Betta sp. wajok is ever officially described. Unfortunately, this process does not seem to be a quick one, so I doubt the confusion will be cleared up any time soon. Therefore, if anyone has further information on these fish, please do comment. 

At present, I am keeping my pair in a 45x30x27cm tank. It has a substrate of clay aqua soil, and the water is kept dark through the use of rooibos tea and IALs. The temperature is around 24 degrees Celsius. 

On a final note, I find this species incredibly difficult to sex. The ventrals and fin size are very similar between the two, and both fish have fairly streamline bodies without that rounded look a well-conditioned female gets. I haven't seen any courtship thus far, although one individual is clearly dominant, and spends a lot of its time pursuing the other. 

I will try to get further photos of these fish later today, as I would appreciate some help in identifying the female.
2 Comments
Attila
17/2/2014 09:40:59 pm

Hi Ashlea,

If I can help You in sexing:
As I saw Your photo of Your new wajok pair, I immidiatelly recognised my fish. I can see the golden shine on the scales, which cannot be seen by naked eye - only on fhoto with flash.
Here are my fishes:
http://www.akvarista.hu/index.php?oldal=139&uid=32118&aid=25184
him=male, nöstény=female
This is how You can select which is which: in my trio the male was always dark, deep red. All of the finns have a very narrow white line on the end - following the curve of the fin. Only 1 fin will tell the difference: the caudal fin is much bigger, like a big circle, than on the female. The females used to be pinker, lighter red, less white on fins, and they used to have torn fins (I don't know if it was the male or each other), and of course the white egg tube.
Unfortunatelly my fishes died, 1 female maybe still alive (I did not see her in 5 days), and I hadn't get any offspring.
All the best, and god luck with them.
Br,
Attila the Hun

Reply
Ashlea
19/2/2014 09:25:25 am

Hi again Attila, I was hoping you might see this and reply. Unfortunately my pair look much closer in appearance than the ones in your photos.

However, I believe the less dominant fish is the female. It was coloured up fully the other day and it seemed a 'muddier' sort of red than the other fish.

Then today I noticed it was showing vertical barring after a meal of white worms.

Hopefully I am correct, as I would like to get them spawning if possible. Sad to hear you lost all your wajok and did not get any fry. Always a disappointment when that happens.

These are some photos of my two fighting.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv19/Myrrina/IMG_8139_zpse9857878.jpg

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv19/Myrrina/IMG_8141_zps1db23b65.jpg





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    Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, I currently keep and breed a number of species from the coccina complex. 

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