Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splendens)

The Siamese fighting fish also known as the betta, 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, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam and are called ''pla-kad'' in Thai or ''trey krem'' in Khmer. They tend to be rather aggressive.