Siamese Fighting Fish (Original)
Siamese Fighting Fish (Original)
Medium: Watercolour on Board
Size: 11" x 7" (280mm x 180mm)
Date: 1983
Code: LongFightingFish
This is the unique original Watercolour painting by Bernard Long.
The Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens), also sometimes colloquially known as the betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish. They are called pla-kad (biting fish) in Thai or trey krem in Khmer.
They are aggressive towards their own species (females can group). However, they can be paired with other fish.
This species is native to the Mekong basin of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, the latter formerly known as Siam. The fish can be found in standing waters of canals, rice paddies and floodplains.
In January 2014 a large population of the fish was discovered in the Adelaide River Floodplain in the Northern Territory, Australia. As an invasive species they pose a threat to native fish, frogs and other wildlife in the wetlands.
A detailed and colourful watercolour painting from the publication Strange and Curious Creatures, written by Rupert Oliver and illustrated by Bernard Long. 1984.
- Artist BiographyBernard Long (born 1926)
Bernard Long was an accomplished British book illustrator and comic book artist. Long was a contributor to Jack & Jill, drawing the light-hearted adventures of Fliptail the Otter in around 1970, and to the Jack & Jill and Teddy Bear annuals. He was an extraordinarily talented and reliable contributor to many Amalgamated Press/ Fleetway/ IPC titles and the Young Telegraph during the 1990s.
He was an exceptionally good nature artist and it seems very likely he contributed to various educational magazines as well as nursery comics. It is thought that he contributed to Look and Learn in the late 1960s and back page artwork for Fun-To-Do in later years, for which information I should thank David Slinn, who recalls that Long was "quietly efficient, very reliable and, as a result, somewhat taken for granted."
His extensive bibliography includes:
Prehistoric Animals, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982 ISBN 0-340-27165-5)
Prehistoric Man, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1983 ISBN 0-340-28608-3)
Dinosaurs, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1983 ISBN 0-340-28609-1)
Strange and Curious Creatures, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1984 ISBN 0-340-34718-X)
Monster Mysteries, by Rupert Matthews (Hove, Wayland, 1988 ISBN 1-85210-354-X)
Lost Treasures, by John Wright (Hove, Wayland, 1989 ISBN 1-85210-357-4)
Victorian Children, by Anne Steel (Hove, Wayland, 1989 ISBN 1-85210-816-9)
Egyptian Farmers, by Jim Kerr (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-906-8)
The First Settlements, by Rupert Matthews (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-769-3)[1]
Greek Cities, by Barry Steel (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-778-2)
Plague and Fire, by Rhoda Nottridge (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 0-7502-0048-0)
Forests, by Michael Chinery (London, Kingfisher, 1992 ISBN 0-86272-915-7)
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