Betta pi Tan, 1998
Betta pi
photo by Hippocampus-Bildarchiv

Family:  Osphronemidae (Gouramies), subfamily: Macropodusinae
Max. size:  9 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  benthopelagic; freshwater
Distribution:  Asia: Thailand and Malaysia.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-10; Anal soft rays: 30-32; Vertebrae: 31-33. Differs from other members of the B. waseri group by having the unique suite of characters: a pi-shaped black pattern on the throat; opercle usually with scales, without green scales; lower margin of opercle black, black spots on opercle; absence of dorsal and caudal-fin transverse bars; broad and distinct dark blue anal margin; predorsal scales 24-25; subdorsal scales 5 1/2-6 (mode 6); postdorsal scales 10-12 (mode 11); lateral scales 32-33 (mode 33); dorsal-fin rays 8-10 (mode 9); anal-fin rays 30-32 (mode 31); head length 32.3-34.4 % SL; body depth 26.4-29.7% SL (Ref. 56613).
Biology:  Primarily found in well shaded peat forest blackwater swamps and creeks which drained out such swamps; the beds are usually covered with dense leaf litter and lots of roots and plants. The free water area is often small, with pH of about 6.0 (Ref. 78499); very soft and deep (up to 1.3 m ) substrate (Ref. 57235).
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN); Date assessed: 05 January 2019 (B1ab(iii)) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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