Colors

Bettas have been affectionately nicknamed "The Jewel of the Orient" due to the wide range of colors which are produced through selective breeding.

Wild bettas only exhibit strong colors when agitated.^{[citation needed]} However, breeders have been able to make this coloration permanent, and a wide variety of hues breed true. Bettas come in a variety of colors, such as red, blue, turquoise, orange, yellow, white, and green. Most are slightly iridescent, and can appear to change color with different lighting or viewing angle. Breeders have also developed different color patterns such as marble and butterfly, as well as metallic shades such as copper, gold, and opaque.^{[citation needed]}

Breeders around the world continue to develop new varieties. Often, the male species are sold preferentially in stores because of their beauty, compared to the females. Recently, breeders have developed in females the same range of colors previously only bred in males. However, females never develop finnage as showy as males of the same type and are almost always more subdued in colouration.

The gene that makes black bettas is the same one that creates cancer. Therefore, black bettas almost always die earlier than other bettas.