Ok so I definitely have petricola. I have no 'tan' coloration whatsoever intruding into the anal fin. It is jet black. Also the white blaze around the caudal fin is pure white with no tan intrusion. It doesn't surprise me. The girl I got them from is too anal to make a mistake like that.

That picture is not my fish I was just saying mine have a different pattern to the barbels.

My fish were bred by someone near by. I honestly don't care whether I have lucipinnis or not. I can't really tell them apart for the most part. They are healthy and growing well and that's all that matters ...

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b209/andywoolloo/betta/022109201512.jpg

My whisker pattern is different from this. They have one long left and right but no second long set. The remaining whiskers are in a clump on the bottom of the mouth. I'd get pictures if I could... so far I have several ...

Ok cool. Thank you. I don't want to breed them it's more 'how many is a good group for them to be happy'. So five or six of any sex is fine then.

To make them comfortable a group of 5 or more is best,yes...the more the merrier!!

Definitely petricolas. My source is a stickler for accuracy. I also have very sharply pointed dorsal fins and no 'fin thing' before the caudal fin.

How does one sex them?

I have 9 1" Syno petricolas in a 36x12 tank. What is the ideal male to female ratio? Or does not not matter much like cories? I'd like to end up with 5 or 6 adults.