What is so interesting to me about albinism in bettas is that albinos are often the first color morphs discovered and maintained in most captive species, like albino ball pythons, swordtails, and axolotls, but lines of albinos in bettas have yet to be maintained for long periods of time. Why albino bettas are so profoundly handicapped and fail to thrive as adults is so far unknown.

Albino bettas are a great mystery. Why are they so rare? It is generally accepted that albinism in bettas is a recessive trait, and can occasionally pop up in the same lines. What is so strange is that albino bettas generally fail to thrive once they reach adulthood, and (according to Sam T., owner and photographer of the albino DT above) have great difficulty locating food (perhaps through impaired vision and sense of smell).

I was *finally* able to take some decent pictures of my Betta burdigala spawning. They are incredibly difficult for me not because they are shy (mine are actually quite friendly), but because they like super dark, IAL-tea water. It is wonderful to sit on the edge of my bed and watch them spawn - they are so elegant and gentle, like a waltz - but trying to get photographs of them is another matter!!

The pair tolerated me bringing over the tripod right next to their love nest, banging around their tank while hurriedly trying to clean the glass (in vain), and also be blinding them with different LED light configurations. I finally gave up and shot with flash, which sucked because I can't even see the fish while I am trying to focus, adjust shutter speed and f-stop, etc. Finally I hit upon the right settings and didn't touch the camera while I was shooting blindly at them until my camera died!