The rosetail is
one of the latest tailtype-developments in our beautiful hobby. Opinions
differ greatly among breeders whether we should use these fish in our
breeding programs or not. In this article I would like to give a short
introduction on how the rosetail was developed and how they can be
recognized illustrated by several pictures. Please note that this article is
based on my personal experiences and thoughts.
This article was published in Flare (Journal
of the IBC) - March/April 2006, Volume 39, No. 5.
In order to breed and develop the perfect halfmoon betta, betta breeders
select their fish on several characteristics like straight rays/edges and
multiple branching in order to breed fish which have balanced, well
proportioned finnage.
To accomplish this goal and to fixate these characterics breeding methods
like inbreeding, linebreeding are often used.
The quest for the perfect halfmoon by this breeding method gave rise to a
"new" development in the our hobby, the
rosetail.
But when did these fish pop-up for the first time? When the CHENMASWIL team
was developing the modern halfmoon in the 90s, it was Jeff Wilson who bred
the first "mutants". These fish appeared from a cross of his lines with
those of Laurent Chenot [1]. Because of their parthership the team regularly
exchanged fishes for their HM breeding program they all became familiar with
this mutation. Initially they were fascinated by these fish but they
appeared to be weaker than the normal fish from the same spawn and failed to
spawn. Because of these problems and the fact that they were now producing
normal halfmoons of good quality they finally lost interest in these fish.
The mutants were never used in their breeding program to develop the
halfmoon. Jeff Wilson and Pete Goettner presented some of these fish at the
IBC convention around 1993/1994. At this time they described these "mutants"
as blonde diamond halfmoons referring to the phenotype of the fish, they
were always blonde (pale color) and when not flaring their caudals had the
shape of a diamond.
Nowadays various degrees of rosetails, from moderate to extreme forms can be
found. The main characteristic of the rosetail is the excessive branching in
all three unpaired fins.
Especially the excessive branching and the overlapping parts in the caudal
finnage results in a "rose-like" appearance, which explains the choice of
the name. Other characteristics which are often seen with rosetails,
especially with the more extreme forms, are smaller ventrals, a smaller
dorsal, lighter/paler colored bodies (possible involvement of the blonde
gene?) in comparison with the normal fish from the same spawn,
bad/asymmetric scaling, slower/impaired growth and development. The
extensive branching also often influences the swimming capabilities of these
types of fish.
Young
copper/gold rosetail (6 weeks old)
Young fish with extreme rosetail signs like
the extensive branching in the caudal, small dorsal and ventral finnage
Most of the time the rosetail characteristics can be spotted very early in
developing youngsters. Especially the extreme forms already show fantastic
finnage and impressive spread at a really young age in comparison to their
normal siblings. In the beginning this can give great excitement, especially
to breeders who are not familiar with this phenomenon, but usually this
excitement turns into dissapointment fast after seeing the poor outgrowth of
such fish.
Young mustard gas rosetail male [2]
Young fish with extreme rosetail signs.
Please note the extensive ray splitting in the caudal, dorsal and anal
finnage but also the asymmetric scaling and pale color on the body.
Here we can see a nice comparison of two spawn sibblings (8 weeks old) which
clearly points out the differences between a moderate rosetail (upper
picture) and the extreme form (lower picture).
The fish on the right clearly shows the extreme
rosetail branching, the smaller dorsal, smaller ventrals and bad scales on
te body in comparison with his normal brother. These pictures also clearly
show the lighter body color which was described earlier.
Copper/gold HM
male
The caudal finnage of this male is showing
mild rosetail signs. We first see a normal halfmoon branching but towards
the end of the tail this flows into a more extensive branching at the end.
Royal
blue oHM male [3]
This male is showing a magnificent balanced
finnage. The extensive raysplitting and slight overlap points out the
presence of rosetail characteristics.
Chocolate/MG
rosetail oHM [4]
This male is showing clear rosetail
characteristics in his caudal finnage (Notice the extensive branching and
the rose-like appearance).
Metallic
blue HM rosetail [3]
This male is an example of a more extreme
rosetail, notice the heavy branching in all three unpaired fins and the
lighter colored body
Here some examples of rosetail females:
Platinum
rosetail female
Rosetail female is showing clear extensive
branching in the caudal and small ventrals. The scaling on the body also is
different from what we see in normal fish.
Two
extreme rosetail females [5]
Two extreme rosetail females showing
extensive branching in the caudal and small ventrals. Please notice the
extremely asymmetric scaling which clearly influences the colordistribution
on the body.
Yellow
fan/feathertail HM [6]
This male is showing an extreme rosetail
form called fan- or feathertail. The raysplitting in the caudal finnage is
build up like a feather. Please note the extensive ray splitting in the
dorsal and anal finnage but also the asymmetric scaling on the body.
Multi
color fan/feathertail HM [7]
Another example of a male showing the fan-
or feathertail finnage. The raysplitting in the caudal finnage is build up
like a feather.
Should we use
rosetails in our lines?
This is a question that each breeder should answer for himself. The opinion
about this differs heavily among betta breeders. Some breeders refuse to use
these fish and cull the extreme forms. They only use the normal or moderate
sibblings. Others swear by using these fish in their lines and claim that
the use of rosetails increases the percentage HM finnage in their lines.
One thing is certain about this, when you use rosetails in your line you
will increase the percentage rosetail in the next generation.
To my personal opinion we should be very cautious with this trait. When
working with these type of fish you will have to select very strict and
strongly in order to keep balanced fish. I personally would prefer to use
the normal or moderate sibblings from the rosetail fish for a spawn. Thereby
very carefull in looking for a female with not to much branching in order to
compensate the extensive branching.
Blue rosetail HM with a 230 degree spread
[3]
Further development of the rosetail characteristic will maybe lead to the
development of a reall fullmoon betta with a 360 degree caudal spread.
But keep in mind a fish has to swim!
References/credits:
1. Jeff Wilson (personal communication) - United states of America
2. Bas Schurink (www.bettakwekerij.nl) - The Netherlands
3. Marcel van den Bossche (Magicbetta) - Belgium
4. Ilse Hoekstra - The Netherlands
5. Cooleitar - Taiwan
6. Marion Schultheiss (www.maschus-bettaparadies.de) - Germany
7. Carmen Scharschmidt (www.habichtswaldbetta.de) - Germany
Source:
Betta Territory