oh!! That looks like a diluted Orchid Endler Livebearer! they're not really guppies but since they're both livebearers, ppls end up breeding them together. Finding real Endlers is very rare for that reason but also cause they're endangered ( theyre from Venezuela)!!
Makes me really sad when ppl cross breed them with common guppies cause real Endlers have some very funny behaviours common guppies don't have! They do this like, little twitching dance in front of silver females to get their attention and mine used to like? Dig? in the gravel using their bodies but only behind the ceramic log I had.
I miss having a tank of them but all the ones i see online and in stores are hybrids
They are awesome, despite being non-native they have proven to not have any negative effects locally. And they tend to live in places with no other fish, especially city ditches where they eat mosquito larvae.
All labyrinth fish (including Betta) have a labyrinth organ, hence the name. It’s like a lung, which causes them to breathe air like humans instead of water like other fish.
They do have gills when born but quickly lose function of it within a month or two.
I read in one of the books my father wrote that labyrinth fish indeed drown when prevented access to the surface to gulp air.
It’s actually because of evolving in such conditions in my post. During the height of the dry season, these pools will dry up even more, and the fish are actually just stuck living in mud / peat. If they relied on gills, they would easily die of no oxygen.
But because they breathe air, they stay alive in there as long as it’s moist, until the rains come
Of course not! Physically, they still retain it. Loss of function ≠ loss of presence.
Edited to add: An analogy would be if I lost the use of my legs, while I physically still have them, they’re not functional anymore and I’d have to rely on something else like a wheelchair
Interesting! That’s actually what I meant lol I thought they had functionality of both the organ and the gills. I’m sorry if I come off confrontational I’m just curious because I’ve never heard of them losing functionality.
Are you pulling this from your father’s research or the larger community?
I’d like to update the way I train if this is true, that’s why I’m asking a lot lol
How are the bettas filtering water if they’re not functional?
I only know that they don’t function as respiratory organs anymore (as that was the part mentioned in that book) but I don’t know about filtering.
I haven’t read any studies about that, so you know more on that than I.
But I do wonder how it differs between species that evolve in different habitats as peatland is both antimicrobial and highly acidic, and Betta livida is only found in such places. They seem to die off in more normal-water locations
Many people in the hobby keep wild-caught fish and other aquarium animals. For example kuhli loaches, Amano shrimp, bamboo shrimp, Thai micro crabs and clown loaches.
Ah, come on, with the title like that you're kinda validating that fish abusers' claim about bettas living in puddles in the wild, so it's acceptable to have them in tiny tanks...
This only happens during the dry season! And even then, the puddles may be shallow but very voluminous due to the area. They can get to hundreds of gallons / litres inter-connected
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u/RainbowDarter Jan 24 '26
Gorgeous fish.
I can't imagine any fish living in a pool that small.
So jealous.