The Unique Bubble Nest of the Betta Fish #WordlessWednesday

I woke up the first morning after acquiring this lovely red betta fish / siamese fighting fish to find this unique 'bubble thingy' being made by him. Considering the fact that I did not feed him soda or beans, it stumped me as to why he was being so gassy.

So I did some reading on it.

Turns out, the bubble nest is a natural process of the male betta fish. 

When he's in a 'daddy mood', he starts making these small clusters of bubbles as a nest. After spawning with his babe, he quickly catches the eggs she releases in his mouth and deposits them in the bubble nest!

This behaviour dates back to their roots, apparently. The original habitats of the betta fish used to be shallow oxygen deprived ponds and thus, daddy-o had to supplement oxygen and moisture to the eggs this way.

You can identify that the mating ritual is about to begin when there's a lot of hugging going on and if the male betta fish dims the lights and starts to play 'Pudhu Vellai Mazhai' from the Roja soundtrack on his iPhone. Also, can you see the golden algae eater fish spying on them from behind the filter... perv!

A Responsible Dad  

Unlike many a human, the male betta is a very responsible dad. He guards the eggs and bubble nest against all threats (it helps when your nickname in the fishing community is 'Siamese Fighting Fish' ) and even after the kids arrive, he looks out for them till they are ready.

The female betta fish actually has a minimal role in looking after the eggs or newborn... they are often spotted sitting on the couch reading magazines and ordering shrimp burgers from Zomato, I hear from reliable sources. 

Damn you, non-traditional lady!

Authors note 

I am linking this post with Esha and Natasha for #WordlessWednesday. You can find more picture based posts there and add your own too. 

Earlier posts I have written for Wordless Wednesday include:

01. Kerala Meals (Food)

02. Have You Ever Had Pain During Surgery? (Medical)
03. Beautiful Desserts (Food)
04. A Dish I did not Expect to Like (Food)
05. What Show is this Dog Watching?! (Pets)

06. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (Pets)
07. Pavlov's Classical Conditioning (Philosophy)
08. What if Gods were just Advanced Aliens? (Religion)

09. What Really Darkens a Room? (Racism)
10. Doggy Desktop (Pets)

11. What is Your Favourite Coffee (Food)

12. 2 milliliters (Medicine)

13. What is an Amuse Bouche (Food)

14. Caption This (Humour)
15. What was the Last Gift You Bought for Yourself (Personal)

16. The Unique Bubble Nest of the Betta Fish (Pets)