Fish fighting can be traced back two hundred years to Siam, and a warrior clan called “Petah”. The Siamese fighting fish got this mark due to its aggressive behaviour, and fighting fish became so popular that the King of Siam taxed them! Although not as common today, fish wrestling is still an accepted form of gambling in some cultures.
Betta fish fighting gets a bad rap, and in some ways it’s undeserved. Even going back to their origins in Siam (now Taiwan) and Vietnam, betta fish are not fought to the death, as they are in a dog fight. Fighting fish is judged more on bravery than physical injury.
Fish owners do not want to see death, injury, and more domination and submission. The winner is the fish that continues to attack and harass its opponent even after the weaker fish has flipped its tail. Fish fights last from a few seconds to two minutes, and the fish are removed by the owners.
Most fish only fight twice, and if they win both battles, they are bred and live like today’s stud horse, kept in the best surroundings. Fighting fish are only found in Siam and some parts of Vietnam, and when the King of Siam gave Teddy Cantor a pair of betta fish to breed in 1840, he didn’t realize he was introducing this sweet little fighter to the world.
Mr. Cantor bred and studied his fighting fish for years, eventually writing a scientific paper on them, giving them the scientific name Macropodus Pugnax. Realizing that this name had already been used, he renamed it Betta Splendens, or adorable betta.
In 1896 several breeding pairs were sent to Germany, from where they began to move to Europe, and in 1910 a pair was sent to an American businessman, where it exploded, and has since become one of the most popular pet fish, still only fought in Taiwan and Vietnam, where you can bet on betta fish fights in the street markets.
When Frank Locke received one of these early pairs, he noticed a bright red coloration on its fins, and thought he had discovered a new species. What happened was due to years of breeding, which resulted in a new color scheme. Now because of two hundred years of breeding, the betta can be found in almost any possible color scheme imaginable, and can even be seen in banks, retail stores, and other public places.