Explanation fin type classification:

Plakat (PK) class:
This is the short finned form which is comparable with the wild type Betta splendens. For inexperienced hobbyists it sometimes is very difficult to distinguish plakat males from females.
The plakat class is divided into two subclasses which each are judged by their own standard:
· Traditional plakats: This is the older traditional form which is quite similar with the wild type. Traditional plakats will be judged using the following standard:

- Dorsal: The dorsal has the shape of a half/semi-circle with a possible slight pointed appearance, it has a full volume, starts in de middle of the back of the fish and is first directed a bit forward (towards the head) before it bends backwards. At the height of the peduncle the dorsal bends back. In the most ideal situation the dorsal overlaps the upper part of the caudal. The front rays of the dorsal (near the head) can not be too short. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable.
- Caudal: In the most ideal situation, the caudal has a spread of 180 degrees with rounded edges. The overall shape can be round or spade-shaped. In case of the spade-shaped form the point is situated in the middle of the caudal. The spread in the caudal is not caused by an increase of branching but by an increase of webbing between the rays. The caudal can show a primary (2-ray) or secondary (4-ray) branching.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a trapezium with the short part in the front and the longer part in the back which runs into a point. In the most ideal situation the anal overlaps the lower part of the caudal during flaring.
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The length of the ventrals is equal to at least 2/3 of the body length (measured from attaching point of the ventrals to peduncle) or more.

· Show plakats: Relatively new plakat class which is also known at the halfmoon plakat (HMPK) class. Show plakats will be judged using the following standard:

- Dorsal: The dorsal is full of volume, has a broad basis, starts in de middle of the back of the fish and is first directed a bit forward (towards the head) before it bends backwards in a sometimes bit stretched circle (not pointed). At the height of the peduncle the dorsal bends back. In the most ideal situation the dorsal overlaps the upper part of the caudal. Branching of the rays in the dorsal can give the dorsal more volume. The front rays of the dorsal (near the head) can not be too short. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable.
- Caudal: The caudal spread is 180 degrees, has straight rays, sharp edges and the shape of a semi-circle (capital “D”). The rays in the caudal often secondary branching (4-ray) or more. A >180 degree spread (overhalfmoon, oHM) is not preferred above a 180 degree spread.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a trapezium which runs parallel to the body with the front a bit shorter than the back (not pointed). In the most ideal situation the anal overlaps the lower part of the caudal during flaring.
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The ventrals have to be in proportion with the rest of the fish and can not be extremely short, long or too thin.

Veiltail (VT):
The veiltail is an older long finned type of Betta splendens. In general, this is the tail type which is frequently found in most pet- and aquariumshops. Veiltails will be judged using the following standard:

- Dorsal: The dorsal has a small basis, is sicke shaped and is not longer than ¾ of the body length. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable. There can be some branching in the rays of the dorsal.
- Caudal: The caudal is asymmetric, has a broad basis and runs into a point. The caudal has a maximum length which is more or less equal to the body length; a limited amount of rays (maximally primary branching, 2-ray) and the webbing between rays is limited. The upper rays which leave the peduncle first run up and after reaching their highest point at approximately 20% of the entire tail length, they drop down. The tail can be easily carried by the fish. When the male is not flaring the tail hangs down.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a trapezium. 
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The length of the ventrals is equal to at least 2/3 of the body length (measured from attaching point of the ventrals to peduncle) or more.

Veiltail (VT)
Owned by Tolis Ketselidis

·  Crowntail (CT):
This fintype is characterized by rays extending beyond the webbing of the finnage producing a “comb”-like appearance. All three unpaired fins (caudal, anal and dorsal) show a 30-50% reduction in webbing in respect to the total length of the rays. Crowntails will be judged according to the following standard:

- Dorsal: The dorsal is full of volume, has a broad basis, starts in de middle of the back of the fish and is first directed a bit forward (towards the head) before it bends backwards in a sometimes bit stretched circle. At the height of the peduncle the dorsal bends back. In the most ideal situation the dorsal overlaps the upper part of the caudal. Branching of the rays in the dorsal can give the dorsal more volume. The front rays of the dorsal (near the head) can not be too short. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable.
- Caudal: The caudal spread is 180 degrees, has straight rays, sharp edges and the shape of a semi-circle (capital “D”). The rays in the caudal often secondary branching (4-ray) or more. A >180 degree spread (overhalfmoon, oHM) is not preferred above a 180 degree spread.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a isosceles trapezium and runs more or less parallel to the body with the front a bit shorter than the back (not pointed). During flaring the anal is directed forward and overlaps the lower part of the caudal.
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The ventrals have to be in proportion with the rest of the fish and can not be extremely short, long or too thin.

·  Halfmoon (HM):
Probably the most popular tailtype of Betta splendens that is asked on the shows worldwide:

- Dorsal: The dorsal is full of volume, has a broad basis, starts in de middle of the back of the fish and is first directed a bit forward (towards the head) before it bends backwards in a sometimes bit stretched circle (without points). At the height of the peduncle the dorsal bends back. In the most ideal situation the dorsal overlaps the upper part of the caudal. Branching of the rays in the dorsal can give the dorsal more volume. The front rays of the dorsal (near the head) can not be too short and should ideally have the same length as the other rays in the dorsal. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable.
- Caudal: The caudal spread is 180 degrees, has straight rays, sharp edges and the shape of a semi-circle (capital “D”). The rays in the caudal often secondary branching (4-ray) or more. A >180 degree spread (overhalfmoon, oHM) is not preferred above a 180 degree spread.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a isosceles trapezium and runs more or less parallel to the body with the front a bit shorter than the back (not pointed). During flaring the anal is directed forward and overlaps the lower part of the caudal.
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The ventrals have to be in proportion with the rest of the fish and can not be extremely short, long or too thin.

Roundtails, deltas and superdeltas do not have their own show class but are judged according to the halfmoon standard:

- Roundtail (RT): As the name already indicates this tailtype of Betta splendens is characterized by a rounded appearance. This type is often found in spawns of delta, superdelta and halfmoon bettas.
- Delta (D) en Superdelta (SD): Long finned triangular tailtype of Betta splendens. The tail is symmetric, has long rays, broad at the basis and becomes wider towards the end of the tail. During flaring the spread of the tail can vary among fish. Here applies the more spread the better. When the spread of the delta is exceeds 160 degrees it is called a superdelta.

·  Doubletail (DT):
As the name already indicates doubletails are characterized by 2 tail lobes instead of one by means of a split of the spine at the peduncle.

- Dorsal: The dorsal has a very broad basis and seems to be the mirror image of the anal. The dorsal has a full volume, starts in de middle of the back of the fish and is first directed a bit forward (towards the head) before it bends backwards in a stretched circle (not pointed). At the height of the peduncle the dorsal bends back. In the most ideal situation the dorsal overlaps the upper part of the caudal. Branching of the rays in the dorsal can give the dorsal more volume. The front rays of the dorsal (near the head) can not be too short and should ideally have the same length as the other rays in the dorsal. Overlap of the dorsal with the body is not desirable.
- Caudal: The doubletail caudal is characterized by two equally distributed lobes which are separated by a split in the middle which runs up to the peduncle. The caudal spread is 180 degrees, has straight rays, sharp edges and the shape of a semi-circle (capital “D”). The rays in the caudal often secondary branching (4-ray) or more. A >180 degree spread (overhalfmoon, oHM) is not preferred above a 180 degree spread.
- Anal: The anal starts at the thickest point of the body (just behind the stomach) and continues towards the peduncle. The anal fin has the shape of a isosceles trapezium and runs more or less parallel to the body with the front a bit shorter than the back (not pointed). During flaring the anal is directed forward and overlaps the lower part of the caudal.
- Ventrals: The shape of the ventrals mimics the blade of a knife with the cutting edge directed backwards. The ventrals run down into a point. The ventrals have a full volume, equal in length (symmetrical) and do not cross each other. The ventrals have to be in proportion with the rest of the fish and can not be extremely short, long or too thin.

!!Remark: Females are judged according to the similar standard as the males with the only difference in the proportional shorter finnage.

Explanation Color classification:

Here you can find a detailed explanation of the different color types which are asked in the show classes above:

Unicolor:
Unicolor, literally means one color. Both the body as the finnage have the same equally distributed color. Only the tips of the ventrals are an exception, these are allowed to be white.

Here some examples of colors which belong to this class:
Royal blue: A darkblue color which sometimes resembles purple.
Steel blue: A steelish, greyisch blue color.

- Turquoise: The best way to describe turquoise is as a color between blue and green.
- Copper/gold: Pretty new colorvariation which is characterized by a metallic green color which sometimes even seems a bit purple.

- Melano black: Deep black colored fish with as less iridescence as possible on the body.

- Red: Complete deep red fish with in the most ideal case not blue iridescence and black scaling on the body and finnage.

- Yellow: Complete yellow colored fish with in the most ideal situation no blue iridescence and black scaling on the body and finnage.

- White: Complete white colored fish with in the most ideal situation no blue iridescence and red wash present on finnage and body.
- Orange: Complete orange colored fish with in the most ideal situation no blue iridescence and black scaling on the body and finnage.

All metallic colors with one equally distributed color over body and finnage will also be judged in this class.

AOC (All Other Colors):
All other color patterns which do not match the criteria of the unicolor class can be shown in this class. Here some examples of color patterns and combinations which belong to this class:

- Cambodian: Flesh colored body with colored finnage.

Cambodian
Bred by Faith Granger

- Butterfly: This pattern is characterized by a white edge around the finnage (in the most ideal situation this pattern shows a 50/50 distribution).

- Bicolor: This pattern is, as the names already indicates, characterized by a combinatio of two colors.

- Marble: This color pattern is characterized by several white spots over body and finnage.

- Multicolor: