Trivia question for Nov-14-2011

Carter picked this feisty fish because he was amazed at how bold these little guys are. These fish are extremly territorial and the males will engage in spectacular fights.

These fish have upturned mouths and are primarily carnivorous surface feeders, although some vegetable matter may be eaten. In the wild, they feed on zooplankton including crustaceans and the larvae of mosquitoes and other insects, such as flies, crickets, or grasshoppers.  Males and females flare or puff out their gill covers (opercula) in order to appear more impressive, either to intimidate other rivals or as an act of courtship. Other reasons for flaring their gills is that they are startled by movement or change of scene in their environment. Both sexes will display horizontal bars (unless they are too light a color for this to show) if stressed or frightened; however, such a color change, common in females of any age, is very rare in mature males.

So here are Carter’s questions:  Tell us what this fish is and tell us what is speacial about their breathing abilities?  Also, if the water temperature falls below a certain degree, these fish will no longer spawn.  Tell us what that temperature is?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Laura Pereira-Daniel from Fosston, Minnesota for being the first with the correct answer. The fish we featured is the Siames Fighting Fish. The Siamese fighting fish, also known as the betta (particularly in the US), is a popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. The name of the genus is derived from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Malay. The wild ancestors of this fish are native to the rice paddies of Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia and are called pla-kad in Thai or trey krem in Khmer.

These fish have a special respiratory organ that allows them to breath air directly from the surface. As far as the ideal temperature for these fish to spawn in the water, the temp  should stay at around 80 degrees since they fall listless if it falls to 75 degrees. Here is more on these fish: Siamese Fighting Fish

Thanks for playing along 😉