The Siamese fighting fish (Betta )

This is Charlie...a new edition to our home

He is a betta, a fighting fish so apart from a female he has to live alone.

 The males are ones with the beautiful colors as seen in so many species.

The reproduciton of these fish is quite interesting.....

The male betta will flare his gills, twist his body, and spread his fins if he is interested in the female. The female will darken in color, then curve her body back and forth as a response. Males build bubble nests of various sizes and thicknesses at the surface of the water. The act of spawning itself is called a "nuptial embrace", for the male wraps his body around the female; around 10-41 eggs are released during each embrace, until the female is exhausted of eggs. The male, in his turn, releases milt into the water, and fertilization takes place externally. During and after spawning, the male uses his mouth to retrieve sinking eggs and deposit them in the bubble nest (during mating the female sometimes assists her partner, but more often she will simply devour all the eggs that she manages to catch). Once the female has released all of her eggs, she is chased away from the male's territory, as it is likely that she'll eat the eggs due to hunger. Henceforth, the eggs remain in the male's care. He carefully keeps them in his bubble nest, making sure none fall to the bottom, and repairing the bubble nest as needed. Incubation lasts for 24–36 hours, and the newly-hatched larvae remain in the nest for the next 2–3 days, until their yolk sacs are fully absorbed.

Can you believe it....the only role the female has is to get squeezed! I want to be a betta in my next life haha.