Siamese Fighting Fish

1. Siamese Fighting Fish By Lucy

2. Eco-System Siamese Fighting Fish are found in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Cambodia. They live in shallow, overgrown waters including flooded rice fields and small creeks. Shallow water stays warm, up to 30°C. They don’t like cold water.

3. Life Circle Males build a nest of bubbles among plant leaves. To make bubbles they take up air in their mouths which coats their mouth in saliva (spit) and spits out bubbles that stick together on the surface of the water. After he has finished, he will show off to atract a female below the nest. They swim around together, and she releases her eggs. He fertilises them with liquid from his body, which means that baby fish will grow inside the eggs. As the eggs float to the bottom, the male catches them in his mouth and spits them into the bubble nest. When the eggs hatch, the little fish swim away. Sadly, the male fish, after all that work looking after the eggs, sometimes eats the baby fish.

4. Facts They usually live from 2-5 years. The word Siamese comes from the word Siam which is the old name for Thailand. Males are colorful but females are not. The male fish fight each other. They can breath air so they can live in polluted water. The males change colour when given the proper nutrition.

5. Siamese Fighting Fish are Awesome!!!