breeding fish (colors?)

Question
I hope you can help with this, it said you knew about breeding and everyone else was maxed out/on vacation.

I'm preparing for my first breeding with bettas (conditioning starts tomorrow) and i had a few questions about color genetics with my pair. one is a marble white/tan body and white and red fins. the female is clear body and her fins are 1/2 clear 1/2 red.... so obviously she has cellophane color genes i believe one of her parents was marble (don't know its genes) the other was cellophane. do you know if its possible to get any fry who end up w/ clear or 1/2 clear tails like the mother with this pair?

Answer
Hi Sara,
  First, are you sure that you have a female?  I am asking because many people think that they have a female because it looks like a girl to them.  Female bettas look different than males (smaller fins, slightly different body shape, etc).

  Assuming that you do have a girl, give it a try.  

  As far as the genetics, I can't help you.  I don't know about the genetics for particular traits in bettas.  I would be surprised if the traits you are talking about are simple point mutations, i.e., one gene controlling the trait in an on/off fashion.  More likely they are complex quantititive traits which means that the results will not simple, i.e., you will only know when you breed them.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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