Betta omega, a new species of black water fighting fish (Teleostei: Osphronemidae) from Malaysia
Authors
Tan Heok Hui1* & Amirrudin Bin Ahmad2
Abstract
A new species of Betta from the B. waseri group is described based on museum material, and is very likely near extinction in the wild. It is most similar to B. hipposideros but differs from it in having a different throat pattern in which the black markings on the lower jaw are continuous with two black downward curved bars on the anterior throat, ending with rounded expanded tips near the edge of lower jaw (vs. downward slender black bars); it further differs in the opercle being uniform brown with light dark brown mottling; in having black transverse bars on the dorsal and caudal fin interradial membranes; and in the absence of a dark distal border on anal fin.
The Betta waseri species group was first proposed by Ng & Kottelat (1994). They redescribed B. waseri Krummenacher (1986) based on fresh material from Pahang (Malaysia) and described the following new species: B. hipposideros from Selangor (Malaysia), B. tomi from Johor (Malaysia), and B. spilotogena from Pulau Bintan (Indonesia). Kottelat &Ng (1994) described B. chloropharynx from Pulau Banka(Indonesia) as part of the B. akarensis group, but Tan &Kottelat (1998) demonstrated that B. chloropharynx belongsto the B. waseri group. Tan (1998) described an additionaltwo species of the B. waseri group, B. pi from Sungei Kolok(southern Thailand) and B. renata from central Sumatra(Indonesia). In 2009, Tan added B. pardalotos from South Sumatra (Indonesia) to this species group, in which it isclosely allied to B. chloropharynx. Thus the B. waseri group presently consists of eight species. Schmidt (1988) reported on specimens of Betta macrophthalmafrom the blackwater swamps in Pekan Nanas area in Johor, which he had obtained from Allan and Barbara Brown’s collection. Schmidt (1988) synonymised B. waseri with B. macrophthalma, however, both species actually belongto two separate species groups, as elaborated upon by Ng& Kottelat (1994: 596). Tan & Tan (1996) discussed thestatus and identity of Regan’s (1910) B. macrophthalma andsynonymised it with B. pugnax. However, Schmidt’s (1988) ‘Betta macrophthalma’ is in fact a member of the B. waserispecies group, which is diagnosed by distinct throat colour patterns, a large adult size and plain body colouration. The Pekan Nanas population was hypothesised to be a distinct species by Ng & Kottelat (1994), but due to lack of specimens, they did not progress further. Schmidt (1998) depicted the Pekan Nanas species and this was subsequently used in the colour plates in Kottelat et al. (1993, pl. 77), where it was referred to as B. waseri.Recently, preserved specimens and a donated series of Betta from Pekan Nanas were made available. From initial examination of photographic material, they resembled B. hipposideros, but differ from this species in several aspects. The southern Malaysian population is herein described as a new species – B. omega.
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