ID Shistura? Nemacheilus? What?

[TammyLiz]

I saw some loaches last week that caught my eye. I didn't know what they were, but I think they may have been Schistura savona I didn't get pictures and I had to come back home to check for an ID. I could be wrong. I don't know anything about them but they looked adorable, all of them resting on the bottom, propped up on their pectoral fins like they were elbows or something! They were all about an inch long. They might also have been Nemacheilus masyae. They had a dark spot at the base of their dorsal but I didn't see anything yellow like I saw on Martin's pictures on the species index for the savona. However, I wasn't looking for it, and they were a little washed out. I couldn't find a lot of information on those but I may still be able to. Whatever they were, I liked them.

I'm setting up a 20 gallon tank right now with a 1 foot by 1 foot footprint, and I'm hoping they'll do well in there. Anyone have anything to tell me? Or suggestions on what they might be with those dorsal spots, and the lines of spots down the sides?

[Emma Turner]

Hi TammyLiz,

It's difficult to say what loaches you have seen without a photo to go by, but for comparison, here's another photo of some juvenile Schistura savona for you to look at - seen here with a pink Pangio doriae:



If it is these that you saw, although they are a relatively small member of the Schistura group, they ideally need to be kept in a tank a bit bigger than what you have proposed. They also like a lot of flow in the tank as they come from fast flowing waterways in India and Bangladesh.

Emma

[Martin Thoene]

Possibly Nemacheilus masyae. I saw some at the shop where I bought my Schisturas on Saturday, so they're around at this time.
Were they very slim, streamlined looking fish TammyLiz?

Martin.

[TammyLiz]

Emma, thank you for that picture! They are beautiful, but not what I saw. But you never know. I'm not looking at them right now, and they were washed out. I don't see the black spot on the dorsal in those, though, so I'm guessing no.

Martin, yes, they were slim, tiny little guys. You could almost miss them on the bottom of the tank, even though they were right out in the open. There was an unmissable black spot at the base of the dorsal. Their posture, propped on their pectorals like the ones emma pictured with their heads higher than their tails, was not like the single picture I've seen of masyae. Could this still be right?

Thanks for your help. I'll have to go back and look again. If they are stilll there. You never know with this store. They go through tetras so fast, but sometimes loaches stay there for a long while.

[TammyLiz]

This entire thread has become a little embarrassing, but I figured I should fess up on my mistake with the ID, so I'm telling on myself.

WEEEELLL, here we go. I figured out what they are. I went back to the LFS today to get another look at them. They had a new shipment and they were in a different tank but I think they were the same. I looked closely and...no barbels. Took special note of markings and such, came home, and figured they're Nannocharax fasciatus. I've never even heard of such a thing. They are so adorable, no matter what they are, I'm going back to get them tomorrow.

I looked up at my first post and see I mentioned my tank has a footprint of 1 foot by 1 foot. That was a typo. It's 1 foot by 2 feet. Sorry about that.

[Martin Thoene]

LOL! I bet you're not the first to be caught out:



Certainly very similar looking to Nemacheilus masyae. These guys are sort of honorary loaches because of they're behavior....just like the Garra I just bought. Anything that lives on the bottom of the tank is all good IMO.

Little cuties....go buy lots They should do really well in that smallish tank.

Martin.

[Graeme Robson]

Yeah i keep some of these chaps! African ground Tetra's is there common name. Or African ground darters. Indeed interesting little chaps.

[TammyLiz]

Do they need sand or will a light, small, clay-based substrate do?

They are very cute fish. I'll have to share pictures of mine once they settle in. I think they'll be perfect for this small tank (well, small depending on who you ask. When I first got the tank years ago, it looked huge to me compared to my 10 gallon, now its small because I feel like most fish I'd like to have can't fit )

[Graeme Robson]

The substrate still applies the same care, as if they where Loaches. Extra space is always for the better, since these chaps carry a name on which they do move rather like a dart. There is different species within the group. (note the differences in pictures from Martin's to mine)


Graeme.