Exploring The Alien Hybrid

Betta
STEFAN GEORGE PSARAKOS

Traits

The Alien Betta is rumoured to be a hybrid of stiktos, smaragdina, smaragdina

Guitar, mahachaiensis and splendens. It has a long body, elegant face, with an
overall mahachaiensis-smaragdina appearance. The black in the fins is due to
non-spread iridescence rather than black lace. The royal blue and steel, ray
branching, dorsal ray count (and doubletail offspring) and full mask indicate
domestic splendens influence.

 100% full mask very high intensity iridescence. Royal blue more
vivid than Super Blue, with a crystalline quality similar to Dragon
iridescence without the green colour shift.

 Dorsal stripes tend to be fewer and thicker with a disrupted or

chequered pattern. These may develop as thick broken black bands across
the fin .

 Anal fin spots which appear different from normal spots (as often
seen in black lace). The spots are fewer, thicker and form a diagonal
chequer pattern similar to the disrupted Alien dorsal pattern. Alien spots
spread across the membrane to the next ray or merge with an adjacent
spot.After fry develop enough iridescence and melanin, the spots initially
appear as a distinctive broken black band across the fin, which forms into
rows of large spots as the fin grows. One of the clearest signs they are
different is the Alien dorsal and anal fin pattern develops much earlier
and is very dark compared to the normal pattern in small fry starting to
colour up, even compared to the caudal pattern of the same Alien fry.
Normal spots are usually smaller, more numerous and closer together.
They usually develop later and don’t form bands. I hypothesise the Alien
spots are an enhanced form of the vertical streak pattern seen in
 mahachaiensis and splendens, combined with the spot pattern seen along
the base of smaragdina anal fins, or the normal splendens spot pattern.

 Caudal spots sometimes merge into smaragdina Guitar-like bands

in some rows, usually in the mid-upper half of the fin.

 The wild type iridescence distribution allows the pattern to be seen

fully. Iridescence is absent or reduced over all or part of each spot and
stripe. The pattern trait, whether normal or Alien, changes the
distribution of iridescence as well as as melanin. In some cases this allows
the Alien pattern to be seen on apparently lightbodied fish with red fins
and minimal black markings. Spread iridescence covers the pattern, but it
can still be visible, especially when back-lit.

Inheritance and Expression

I have performed several crosses of Alien with HMPK and their progeny. I am
trying to develop show quality HMPK form with all the Alien colour and pattern
traits, as well as fully merging all caudal spots into stripes. I am also trying to
eliminate the hybrid fertility and viability issues.

Based on my limited crossing to HMPK, I have made these observations:

 The Alien dorsal pattern is codominant or incomplete dominant

with variable penetrance. Carriers range from full pattern expression with
thick chequered stripes, to thin disrupted pattern, to normal pattern.
Number of rows of pattern varies.

 The Alien anal fin pattern is codominant or incomplete dominant

with variable penetrance. Some heterozygous fish show full expression of
both dorsal and anal fin Alien pattern. In others, there may be a single
row of deceptive black streaks at the base of every second or third ray.
These are common to splendens, mahachaiensis and imbellis and their
hybrids. They may be associated with the organisation of spot/streak
patterns (normal or Alien) across the fin, but they don’t lead to any Alien
 pattern in these individuals. Other carriers may lack even the normal
pattern.

 The Alien anal fin pattern and caudal spots seem to be inherited
independently. F2 Alien patterned individuals may have few caudal spots.
F1 individuals may have normal caudal spots or in some cases a few semi-
merged spots/rows of spots.

 The complete or partial lack of normal spots might be dominant or

incomplete dominant to full coverage of normal spots (multiple distinct
spots/stripes along both sides of every ray). Normal spots/stripes can also
be modified to form irregular streaks and swirls, which can be seen in all
fins. This affects the expression of Alien spots. Alien pattern expression in
carriers could hypothetically depend on having the normal pattern trait,
i.e. the combination of both Alien and normal pattern could allow or
enhance Alien pattern expression.

 The patterns show up better on non-spread iridescent (wildtype)

and possibly black lace fish. They are obscured by membrane iridescence
in spread-iridescent fish. Red may also reduce visibility or expression of
the patterns.

 The intense colour seems to be incomplete dominant or recessive.

After three generations some fish are almost as vivid as “pure” Alien.

 Alien iridescence colours (blue, green, grey) have the same

inheritance as splendens colours (blue, turquoise, steel). A royal blue
Alien x HMPK pair will have the outcome expected. It is unknown
whether the colour hues (e.g steel vs grey) are genetically distinct, but
they are interchangeable in crosses. Iridescence has variable hues even
between fish of the same spawn, breed or species. The amount of melanin
is known to influence this. The combination with Metallic/Dragon is as
expected for splendens crosses.

Hybrid Incompatibility
Alien pairs tend to have low fertility. This is probably because they are hybrids
and have also been heavily inbred. There are records in the scientific and
hobbyist literature, showing that F1 hybrids develop normally, but subsequent
generations produce weak or nonviable offspring, necessitating a backcross (if
possible) to one of the parental species to continue the line. This is a form of
incompatibility that would normally maintain reproductive isolation between
species.

Alien x HMPK breeding has been very difficult due to hybrid incompatibility.
Alien male x HMPK female make many normal fry. The reciprocal cross had low
fertilization and fry didn't start free swimming or eating. This suggests that male
Aliens have near normal fertility while female Aliens have reduced fertility, at
least in my splendens crosses.

F1xF1 produced many fry but very few free-swimming fry. However, HMPKxF1
produced all normal fry. AlienxF1 and AlienxF2 produced no free swimming fry.

Third generation fish from [HMPKxF1]x[F1] and [F1xF1]x[HMPKxF1] are

possible, with Alien pattern, merged/large caudal spots and vivid iridescence.
Sibling crosses were nonviable beyond several weeks old, but crossing to HMPK
females has produced some fourth generation fry. A fourth generation pair and a
fourth generation male x pure HMPK, have produced a reasonable number of
swimming fry.

I will alternate sibling crosses and backcrosses to retrieve homozygous pattern

and colour intensity, with outcrosses to HMPK, imbellis and mahachaiensis to
develop form and fertility.