Som fighters are hybrid fighters from crossing of wild bettas with domesticated fighting strain bettas.
They are raised in natural condition like wild bettas, having to fend for itself and to look for it's own food.
As such they have natural colouration on their scales which is green and a brown body so as to blend into it's natural surroundings.
They are bred in breeding centres and the frys are released into the wild when they are
about one month old and are ready for harvest in 5 months time.
Survival rates will depend on their adaptablity to the environment, but one thing is for sure, if they survives to adulthood, they can be dependable fighters.
They are more then a match for any wild bettas, as part of their fighting strain blood will make them fight harder and longer.
Som fights are short and unpredictable and those with a higher percentages of pure fighting strain blood are usually stronger and better fighters.
Fights can last from a few minutes to about an hour or two, unlike fighting strain
bettas that can last for several hours more, whose injuries could kill the fish too.
The draw back of too much fighting strain blood in Som is they look darker and more robust physically. In fights they lasts longer and suffered more injuries.
In the Som fighting rings, the fish should be thin and small and also lightly coloured so as to mask the amount of fighting strain blood in them.
To much physical resemblance to pure fighting strain bettas will not qualify them as Soms, not a wise option.
To Som players in Penang, it is the look that matters.
A good Som to these players, is a fish that resembles a wild bettas, small and thin, light coloured in green with a brown body, but fight hard and long and could sustain
serious injuries yet can keep on fighting like a fighting strain bettas!
In my opinion the ideal Som may be just a fish with a outer shell like a
wild bettas but the interior of a pure fighting strain.
In the Penang Betta fighting rings, there are unofficial classification of the fighters, generally there are 4 accepted categories of fighting bettas, and top of the line are the fighting strain bettas( of Plakat Lukmorh origin), followed by the Berliao, then the Soms and then the Cheng Kias and finally the weakest, the true wild bettas(Imbellis).
Soms are generally wild bettas crossed with Fighting Strain Bettas( of Plakat LukMorh origin).
Soms crossed with wild bettas are called Cheng Kias.
Soms crossed with fighting strain bettas are called Berliaos.
Fighting Strain Bettas are usually from Ipoh and Kedah areas and some could find their way to Penang from the Southern Thai provinces and they are the best fighters and they look different from the rest mentioned!
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