Species Profile: Betta albimarginata

Common Name:   Strawberry Betta, White Seam Betta

Description:   A small but fierce maroon and black labyrinth fish with white-margined fins that lives in East Kalimantan blackwater swamps. Their colors intensify or fade to golden-brown depending on their mood and their environment, like tiny chameleons with a limited color palette. Betta albimarginata is closely related to Betta channoides, which is stockier than B. albimarginata and doesn’t have a white margin on its dorsal fin. CARES lists Betta albimarginata as Vulnerable, but the IUCN Red List lists it as Endangered.

Category:   Anabantids

Global Region:   Southeast Asia

Distribution:   East Kalimantan, Indonesia

CARES Classification:   Vulnerable