Description

Betta enisae

Betta enisae was described by Kottelat in 1995. The species is named after Mrs. Enis Widjanarti.

Origin

The type specimen was caught at Sungai Santik; Borneo. Other catch locations are Kapuas river basin; Borneo and Sanggau area – Hulu area; Borneo.

Length

They can reach a total length of around 90 mm (TL).

Keeping Betta enisae

Betta enisae is a calm species which is not aggressive towards fellow residents, but sometimes can be against conspecifics. Young males in particular are regularly aggressive towards each other, as are the females among themselves. The latter are also aggressive towards non-dominant males. Betta enisae requires a spacious aquarium of at least 100 centimers in length, but longer would be much better for 1 pair. As this species loves hiding places, the aquarium must be well planted and have proper filtering. In the wild this Betta occurs in clear to light brown water with pH 5.5 – 6.5, GH 0 – 1, KH 0 – 1 and a temperature between 26 ° and 27 ° C.

Breeding Betta enisae

Betta enisae is a mouthbrooder. The well-known ‘ball game’ can also be seen with this species; during reproduction, the female takes the eggs into the mouth and then the female spits some to the male. If he is fast enough, the female will not get a chance to quickly snatch them back. This requires a number of times before the male is in possession of all eggs. After spawning, the male hides between the plants. After 10 days the fry are released and have a length of almost 10 mm. After 9 months they are full grown.

Authors

Henk Grundmeijer – Stefan vd Voort – Nederlandse Vereniging voor Labyrintvissen
Published in consultation with the association

Copyright images

H. Linke