Sneaker male bettas?

[illumnae]

are there sneaker male wild bettas that display female colouration, like how some apisto males do?

[leeruisheng]

I've never heard of it before but still new to wild bettas. I'm no expert but these are just my experience. My Betta krataios both male and female colour wise looks quite similiar. But can see the difference in their finnages (male would be longer and bigger) and when they are flaring at each other. What I noticed is that when the male is flaring, you should be able to see a huge throat extended whereas the female exhibit smaller throat. Try getting them to flare at each other or using a mirror. When they flare, all truth is reveal.

In another case, my Betta rubra male I can say is always on the heels of the female. But the chase ends once they started to spawn. Upon releasing of the fries, the male continues chasing the female.

Post some photos of them flaring. See if others can help differentiate.

[illumnae]

ok thanks...i'm wondering because my male keeps attacking the female relentlessly so i'm trying to explore the options, and one option could be that the male recognises the other as a sneaker male and thus is trying to kill the other

[leeruisheng]

I think nicktc did mention that his Betta rubra female being chased to death by the male.

[illumnae]

i think sneaker male phenomenom does exist. my abused "female" is showing male colouration now

[exotic_idiot]

Hi illumnae, i think it's better that you separate them first just in case the losing male dies. And you can get two confirm females for your little guys.

[illumnae]

i can't separate them without tearing down my tank. it's a nano planted setup and the losing guy keeps hiding under the hardscape

[Cacatuoides]

Looks like this 'sneaker male' situations are occuring often here, most of these sneaker males are from the farms.....

Is it a result of mass breeding by the farms? fellow overseas hobbyists seldom have this problem

[illumnae]

good news...i managed to net out the "female" as he/she was lying listlessly at the front of the tank...didn't even put up a struggle/escape attempt as i nudged him/her out of the grass and into the net. acclimitizing him/her to my newly freed up ap. bitaeniata juv tank and once he/she is in there, i'll see how colours develop.

anyone know where i can buy 2 female betta falx from?

[illumnae]

some evidence that sneaker males do exist in bettas as well. look at the 3rd last paragraph of this article about B. albimarginata:

http://www.ibc-smp.org/articles/albimarginata.html