{"topic_id":"exotic_pet_profile_betta","category":"exotic-pet-profile","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_pet_profile_betta\ncategory: exotic-pet-profile\ntitle: \"Betta (Betta splendens) — species profile (taxonomy, geographic range, habitat, physical description, behavior, wild diet, reproduction, lifespan)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Animal Diversity Web (animaldiversity.org, University of Michigan) — species account Betta splendens\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-profile-2026/betta.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-28\ntokens_estimated: 0\nverified: true\nverification: c1_substring\nsource_document: \"Animal Diversity Web species account (Betta splendens)\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Animal Diversity Web (animaldiversity.org, University of Michigan)\"\n  title: \"Betta (Betta splendens) — species profile (taxonomy, origin, lifespan, husbandry basics)\"\n  url: \"https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Betta_splendens/\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-28\"\n  ref: \"ADW species account Betta splendens\"\n  doc_type: \"expert species account (.edu, compiled from primary literature)\"\n  needs_review: false\nauthority_tier: T3\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T3:expert-db\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\n\n# Betta (Betta splendens) — species profile (taxonomy, geographic range, habitat, physical description, behavior, wild diet, reproduction, lifespan)\nAuthoritative first-hand species account (Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan). All bullet facts are verbatim from the cited source and C1-substring verified.\n\n## Geographic Range\n- The wild Siamese Fighting fish can be found swimming amongst the inland waters of the Orient.\n- It is native to Thailand, but can be found worldwide in pet stores as a domesticated fish.\n\n## Habitat\n- Betta splendens live in thickly overgrown ponds and in only very slowly flowing waters such as shallow rice paddies, stagnant pools, polluted streams, and other types of areas in which the water has a low-oxygen content.\n\n## Physical Description\n- The Betta, on average, is 7.5 centimeters in length.\n- Its body shape is streamlined, allowing it to slip smoothly and effortlessly through open water.\n- The fish's body is covered with scales that overlap each other like the shingles on the roof of a house.\n- These scales consist of thin, transparent plates that help protect the Betta's body from injury and add streamlining for efficient gliding.\n\n## Behavior\n- During the dry season, most Bettas are able to bury themselves in the bottom of their dried up habitat.\n- There, they can live in moist cavities until water once again fills the depression during a rainy period.\n- The fish can survive even if thick, clay mud is all that is left of the water.\n- They do not survive total drying out of the bottom.\n- (Vierke 1988) A well-known behavioral characteristic of the Betta is fighting.\n\n## Food Habits (Wild Diet)\n- Wild Betta splendens feed mainly on insects that have fallen into the water.\n- Because of their rapid metabolic rate, Bettas need to eat frequent, small \"snacks\", such as algae, to hold them over until their next big meal.\n- (Hargrove 1999) Five different feeding methods have been observed in the Betta: snapping, scooping/gulping, grazing, jumping, and spitting.\n- Snapping is the method most commonly used to \"capture\" their morsels of food.\n\n## Reproduction\n- Mating begins with the male Betta building a nest of bubbles.\n- To build this nest, the male swims to the surface, takes a gulp of air and spits out a mucus-coated air bubble.\n- He then quickly takes another bubble of air and releases it near the first one.\n- This process continues for hours with occasional breaks for food or to court the female.\n\n## Conservation Status\n- The Betta is not endangered.\n- oriental Close found in the oriental region of the world.\n- In other words, India and southeast Asia.\n## Lifespan\n- Average lifespan Status: captivity 2 years\n","sources":["exotic-pet-profile — Betta (Betta splendens) — species profile (taxonomy, origin, lifespan, husbandry basics) (retrieved 2026-07-28)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-profile","title":"Betta (Betta splendens) — species profile (taxonomy, origin, lifespan, husbandry basics)","url":"https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Betta_splendens/","retrieved":"2026-07-28","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Animal Diversity Web species account (Betta splendens)","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-profile-2026/betta.txt"},"source_document":"Animal Diversity Web species account (Betta splendens)","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-profile-2026/betta.txt","trust":{"authority_tier":"T3","fidelity":"verbatim","license":null,"display_grade":"B"},"tokens_estimated":728,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}