Blog Assignment #2: Scientific Observation

Observation of Merlot the Koi Betta Fish

Gretchen Janes

What did you choose to observe? Why did you choose to observe this? How long did you choose to observe your organism?

I chose to observe one of my betta fish because it would be easy to observe him for 15+ minutes because he can’t leave or go anywhere since he's stuck in his tank. I observed him for about 20 minutes. 

Describe your observation and note at least 3 specific things that you observed.

For the most part, he just swam around at the front of the tank trying to get my attention it seemed. After staring at him for about 3 or so minutes he acted more agitated, swimming back and forth quite aggressively. I think he was expecting me to feed him and was wondering what was going on. He gave up after about 7 minutes and swam a lap around the tank, close to the bottom, before circling back around. Then, catching sight of me still watching him, he starting swimming back and forth once more. This happened a couple more times during the rest of the 20 minutes. At one point he also flared his gills at my phone while I was taking pictures of him. Around every three minutes he would go up to the waterline to breathe. 

Merlot in Spring 2017

Are there any abiotic factors that influenced your observation? If so, what are they.

Almost all the betta fish I own have been “rescue” fish, and when I got them they were sick and/or just pretty sad-looking. I think an abiotic factor that influenced my observation would be the chemicals in the water. Because of the filtered water and the water changes I do, the ammonia level is nowhere near what it was in the container I bought the fish in and he seems to be benefiting from it. I found a picture I took of him when I first got him during October of last year and compared to now he looked quite different. His colors were a lot duller, his behavior was sluggish/lethargic, and his fins were pulled close to his body.

Merlot circa October 2016

Would you change anything about your mode of observation the next time you do it?

If I were to do this observation again, I would like to find some way to observe the fish without my presence being known. I think I distracted him by catching his attention and I would have liked to observe him without my presence influencing his actions.  I could try to set up my camera to record him but I would have to work on getting and keeping him in focus while he moves so much, not to mention the tank is kind of big to capture it all on camera but I would like to find some way to do it! Or it would also be interesting to observe two tanks next to each other and see how the fish in them interact with each other.

After my observations, my questions are:

1. Do betta fish like Merlot have the cognitive abilities to recognize my presence as feeding time or does it just see me as a threat? 
2. My betta fish is called a “koi” betta and he was bred to look this way and I’ve read that some betta fish breeders often inbreed their fish to get certain colors; wouldn’t this result in more fish with genetic defects and health disadvantages? 
3. How do the conditions of the water and habitat affect the coloring of the fish? 
4. How does the gas exchange work with this type of organism? 

Hypothesis: 

Betta fish that are inbred for beauty and certain colorings will have more deleterious traits due to an increase in homozygosity.