fighting fish (fit ing fish)

A Siamese fish, Betta pugnax, of the family Osphromenida: so called from its pugnacity. It is a small anabantoid fish, with a short, spinele dorsal fin on the middle of the back, a long anal, and ventrals of five rays, of which the outer is elongated. In Siam these fishes are kept in gla globes for the purpose of fighting, and an extravagant amount of gambling takes place upon the results of the it is irritated, as by the sight of another fish, or of its own reflection in a mirror, it glows with metallic splendor, the projecting gill-membrane waving like a black frill about the throat. fighting-sandpiper (fi'ting-sand" pī-pèr), п. The ruff, Machetes pugnax.