Port Blair, Nov 18: Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)strains namely, Nemo candy, Blue dragon and Half-moon Plakat were successfully bred for the first time at the Ornamental unit of Division of Fisheries Science, ICAR-CIARI. Betta splendens, commonly known as Siamese fighting fish belonging to the family Osphronemidae is a commercially important ornamental fish which is well known for its beautiful coloration, finnage and is best suited as an ornamental fish in aquarium tanks.
The fish comes in a variety of colour like full white, full red, golden,platinum and other assorted colours. Bettas are the most commonly traded fish in the aquarium trade worldwide with their marketable size range of 2 to 3 inches. The price of the fish varies as per the quality and the strain with range from INR 150 to 25000.
Approximately 1000 Nos. of fighting fish fries were produced in the ornamental unit. Under the guidance of Dr. Eaknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-CIARI, the team Dr. Praveenraj, J., Dr. R. Kiruba Sankar and Dr. K. Saravanan were involved in the successful breeding and seed production under Island conditions.
