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This article describes the first phase of development of the new
Bettas4all Standard and will provide more information and insight
regarding the motivation and background behind this new show
standard for Betta splendens.
Introduction
Show standards of animals are in general characterized by a clear
description of the various show varieties. Dimension parameters are
very important as they tell us what the overall appearance of the
ideal show animal should look like. When we take a look at show
standards of several show breeds, for example German shepherds [1],
Arabian horses [2], English budgerigars [3], goldfish [4] and
guppies [5], they all include a clear description of the ideal
dimensions.
The
current standards for show Bettas give a clear description of ideal
form and color of the various show varieties we know today. In order
to describe the ideal form, these standards often use terms like
“symmetry” and “balance”, but what do they mean with these words?
“Symmetry” in our hobby refers to the situation where the upper and
lower parts of the fish nearly form a mirror-image when an imaginary
horizontal midline would be drawn. “Balance” refers to the
proportion of the finnage in relation to that of the body. Here, a
clear dimension parameter which indicates the ideal size of the
finnage in relation to that of the body is lacking.
Previously, I discovered that the width of the anal fin could
function as a suitable reference point to describe the dimensions of
the finnage of a show betta [6]. In the past two years years I
further explored this option by studying the form and the dimension
of the body and finnage of both male and female Bettas in my own
fishroom, at shows and from pictures. As the width of the anal fin
is depending on the body size of the fish, the advantage of taking
this as a reference point is that it automatically relates the ideal
finnage size to that of the body. Keep in mind that this does not
mean that we have to start measuring Bettas during the judging
procedure but with good training an experienced judge should be able
to recognize whether a fish has the correct dimensions or not. We
have used this tool to develop a new show standard.
Development of a new standard
The philosophy of the new Bettas4all standard is to promote vital,
healthy, balanced show Bettas. Condition, deportment, overall
balance,
form of body & finnage, and color are
important aspects which are incorporated into the standard.
"Characteristics like extreme branching, webbing that is too
voluminous (e.g. “balloon” ), misaligned scales, and bad toplines (e.g
“spoonhead”), are not compatible with our philosophy and will be
heavily faulted.".
I think one can imagine that development of a
such a standard takes time and this article will discus what we have
accomplished so far in phase I of this elaborate project.
Ideally a show standard, regardless of the type, should be
accompanied by clear examples which match the written text in order
to enhance understanding and prevent confusion. Because the perfect
fish does not exist it is very difficult to illustrate the form and
dimensions written in the standard. We therefore have used a
different approach. With the help of my friend Stefan George
Psarakos (Australia) we developed three-dimensional (3D) models to
visualize the ideal shape, balance, dimensions and proportions of
the different finnage varieties of Betta splendens. But how did we
approach this? We started with a longfinned symmetrical variety, the
halfmoon. As our dimension parameter depends on the form and
proportions of the body, we put a lot of effort into the development
of a good 3D model of the body with a smooth topline and strong
appearance (see Figure 1A). Subsequently we made a
dimension model for the finnage (see Figure 1B) and
from here we step by step added the caudal fin (see Figure 1C),
anal fin (see Figure 1D), dorsal fin (see Figure
1E), ventral and pectoral fins (see Figure 1F).
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Figure 1 2D representation of the
different stages in development of the 3D model for the halfmoon
(created by
Stefan George Psarakos).
Body (A), body & finnage dimension sketch (B),
modelling of the caudal fin (C), modelling of the anal fin (D),
3D model with all three unpaired fins (E) and the complete
model after addition of the pectoral and ventral fins (F) |
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The
3D model of the body also formed the base for the development of the
other finnage varieties where we followed the similar approach as
described previously.
Finnage varieties
The
Bettas4all Standard recognizes two asymmetrical shortfin show
variants (traditional plakat and asymmetrical halfmoon plakat), one
symmetrical shortfin variant (symmetrical halfmoon plakat), one
asymmetrical longfin variant (veiltail) and three symmetrical
longfin variants (halfmoon, doubletail and crowntail). In this
article we introduce the main characteristics of these different
finnage standards illustrated with a 2D preview of the corresponding
3D models.
Plakat
For
many years the traditional plakat was the only shortfinned type seen
at betta shows but the development of the halfmoon fever also led to
the evolution of the shortfinned tailtype. Outcrossing the
traditional plakat type to longfinned halfmoons led to the
development of the halfmoon plakat. The overall appearance of these
fish is asymmetrical and combines traits of both traditional plakats
and halfmoons. Besides more raysplitting in the caudal fin, the
outcrossing to longfinned halfmoons also introduced more
raysplitting in the anal and dorsal fins which also influenced their
shape and volume. Both types have a clear asymmetrical appearance
which is mainly caused by the extended rays in the rear (posterior)
part of the anal fin but also by the length and shape of the
ventrals and the dorsal. When breeding longfinned halfmoons the
ultimate goal is a fish with a balanced appearance. The increasing
interest in asymmetrical show plakats lead to the development of
another plakat type, the symmetrical halfmoon plakat. This type is
the shortfinned equivalent of the longfinned halfmoon and is often
referred to as “shortmoon”. Because we are now dealing with three
different shortfinned show varieties which have been evolved from
each other by years of selective breeding, this also resulted in
intermediate types which are sometimes difficult to place in a
certain show class. In this standard we have tried to create a
clearer distinction between the traditional plakat (see Figure
2A), the asymmetrical halfmoon plakat (see Figure 2B)
and the symmetrical halfmoon plakat (see Figure 2C).
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Halfmoon
Ideally the caudal fin of a halfmoon, both short- and longfinned,
should have a 180 degree spread with the length of the rays being
equal throughout the whole caudal.
This characteristic is only found in a limited number of fish and
most of the times the outer rays are shorter in length than the rays
found in the midsection of the caudal fin. When judging longfinned
halfmoons it is often said that the fish has an unbalanced
appearance because the anal fin is too long in the back.
Interestingly, in most cases it are not the rays in the anal fin
which are too long but it actually are the outer rays of the caudal
fin which are too short. This observation requires both
breeders and judges to look with a different eye at halfmoons (see
Figure 4A).
Doubletail
The ideal doubletail can be considered as the ultimate example of
symmetry of all show Bettas. Because of the broad dorsal fin which
almost resembles the anal fin in both width and shape the upper part
and lower part of the fish nearly are a mirror-image. In many
standards doubletails are allowed to have a shorter body. We
personally feel that ideally the perfect doubletail should have a
good proportioned body which is comparable to that of any singletail
variant (see Figure 4B). |
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Crowntail
According to the Bettas4all Standard, the ideal crowntail caudal is
“double-ray (DR)” and shows a primary branching (2-ray) with a 50%
reduction in webbing between the primary rays and a 25% reduction
between the secondary rays thereby creating a crown-like appearance
(see Figure 4C). The dorsal and anal fin of the
crowntail show a 50% reduction in webbing. We decided to choose this
type because it represents a good balance between the empty spaces
and remaining webbing between the rays of the fins. Two variants of
this type are recognized, the normal crossray and reverse crossray.
Trial version
After all the hard work in the past months we are extremely proud to
present this trial version of the Bettas4all standard to the public.
This version will be used to judge the Bettas by a knock-out system
at the Holland Betta Show (20 - 22 August 2010, Arcen, the
Netherlands) and at the 15th EHBBC show (30 September - 3
October 2010, Duisburg, Germany). It is likely that this version of
the standard still shows imperfections and after both shows we will
evaluate which parts need further improvement. In Phase II, our goal
is (1) to expand the standard by adding a detailed fault system for
the finnage and color standards and (2) to further develop the
standard for female show bettas.
So
please keep your eyes open for Phase II!
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Stefan George Psarakos (Australia,
www.superbbettas.com)
whose contribution is of crucial importance in the development of
this new standard. His artistic skills and dedication enabled him to
create 3D models of the show betta varieties, based on dimensions
and diagrams I produced. I hope we can continue this collaboration
for a long time! |
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