Popular Freshwater Fish!

Uncle Bill's Pet Centers carries a wide variety of freshwater and saltwater fish, and selection may vary by store location. Here are some of the most popular freshwater fish Uncle Bill's offers - but it is not a complete listing of all the fish we have available at any given time. This list as well as our in-store availability fluctuates and is updated regularly. Please note this information on each fish's page is for your reference only, and any advice acquired from these listings is to be used at your own discretion.

Bettas

Facts and Information

crowntail betta

Back when, it was a stout little brown to green fish with short fins and major attitude. Several years passed before the king of Siam gave some specimens of the wild Betta to a friend of his, who happened to be a biologist, Dr. Theo Cantor. He aptly dubbed the fish Macropodus pugnax, which stuck for quite a few years until another scientist (Tate Reagan) pointed out that there was already a fish named M. pugnax, so it was changed to Betta splendens in 1909. Splendens is Latin for splendid, or beautiful, and Betta came from an ancient tribe of Asian warriors called the Bhettahs known for their ferocity in battle. In 1896, the first shipment of Bettas landed in Germany and in 1910, hit the shores of the US. By 1927, the first few color strains of the Betta had shown up and since then, dozens of different colors have been produced; including black, turquoise, red, dragon red, blonde (pale yellow) and white (also called Cambodian Bettas), green, lavender and purple.