TFH Loach book

[bacod253]

Just getting another opinion on one of the pics in the book. P.136 & 137.
136 is labeled as Yasuhikotakia nigrolineata, and 137 as Y. sidthimunki. My first thought was the opposite. Sids on 136 and nigrolineata on 137. Thoughts?

[Martin Thoene]

The picture on page 136 is Yasuhikotakia nigrolineata and was a photo taken in one of her stock tanks at Maidenhead Aquatics, Crowland, UK by Emma Turner. It was heavily edited by me to remove water marks on the glass and another fish's tail in the background that detracted from the overall composition. Much of the background is cloned in. I did so much work on Emma's photo because it was our strongest desire to illustrate the attractiveness of Loaches and this picture is of a beautiful, perky specimen that just oozes character. Exactly what we were looking for and still a very definitive capture of the spirit of this species IMO.

The picture on page 137 is quite possibly Y. nigrolineata also and not a sid IMO. It was a photo by a Mark Smith and not supplied by any of our LOL regulars who provided many of the other photos in the book. TFH utilize Archive Photos or pictures they have previously bought the right to use.

Due to budgetary constraints placed upon the person in charge of the book's genesis at TFH by their management, the numerously far superior images that we had available were not utilized in the book. We even tried to give away pictures to them to replace inferior shots to no avail. Apparently their rules of engagement, no doubt set by corporate lawyers insist that all images must be payed for if published.

Mark Macdonald and I had to pull them up on several illustrative mistakes in the original layout draft of the book and a certain amount of informed pleading and levering led to a few image changes substituting better pictures where we insistant that their images were unacceptable.

Had we had total editorial control and no budgetary constraints the book would have been a thing of true beauty which was the shared concept we had when the idea was first conceived. Whilst it doesn't fulfil my personal artistic aspirations for what it might have been visually, I think everyone involved in writing it can hold their heads high because the text does exactly what it says on the cover. As a side note it's interesting to know that our supplied text for the whole book was so finely edited by our team that TFH made no cuts (other than removing some medication brand names) and actually asked us to expand the book to another chapter, so I wrote the Afterword.

We're lucky that most of the contributing photographers are still LOL regulars and that we can all still get immense pleasure from the increased skills they have all acquired since the pictures were taken for the book back in 2002 - 2003. LOL continues to be the premier site for Loach images on the 'net.

If you check page 256 there is a full listing of photographic credits. You'll recognize names from here.

Martin.

[Nonn]

Thanks for the lengthy explaination Martin. I've been thinking that we have a better photographs of a few species published, and have been wondering why the editor selected those pictures instead of one supplied by LOL contributor.

Anyway, it is one of the best fish book on my shelf and I'm honored to have my name in there.

[Martin Thoene]

And we are eternally honoured and grateful that we have your awesome photos in the book Nonn. You ever thought of going into book publishing?
Based on your Aqua magazine I bet you could produce stunning works of nature's art in book form.

Anyone fortunate to have seen a copy of Aqua (published in Bangkok) will know what I mean.

Martin.

[Mad Duff]

Based on your Aqua magazine I bet you could produce stunning works of nature's art in book form.

Anyone fortunate to have seen a copy of Aqua (published in Bangkok) will know what I mean.

I second that, Aqua puts the majority if not all other fish magazines to shame, an excellent publication.

(the copy that my article appeared in was a particularly fine example )

[mickthefish]

i' m a Big fan of Amazonas as one of the leading fish mags, but i have had a few copies of Aqua and was very impresses with the mag.

mick

[Nonn]

Thanks for the kind words on Aqua, guys.

I just met Hans G. Evers of Amazonas last week. I told him I felt bad about Aqua everytimes I saw Amazonas....darn I wish I can read German.

[mickthefish]

at least you did'nt hit Hans on the head with your casting net, just our Neil.hahaha

mick

[soul-hugger]

Hello..,

I have the Loach book, and I think it is wonderful. It's too bad that corporate constraints kept some of the pictures from being what they might have been, but all that says to me is that there is another book in the making. With the growing popularity of Loaches, and of this site, it is inevitable that several years from now, there will not only be a much larger store of information from which to draw, but also I have no doubt that there will be no shortage of passionate contributors for funding as well as photos and information.

While on the subject of books and magazines, (though I have never had the pleasure of seeing Aqua) I was pleased to see Loaches featured in both the March edition of TFH(written by Michael Ophir.., well done:)) and of Aquarium Fish International. I found it strange that in the AFI article, whose spotlight was on the Yoyo Loach, had it listed as Botia Lohachata. Has anyone else noticed this? It clearly says, (Quote)

"There are two fish that are often mixed up with each other in both their scientific and common names. The two scientific names are Botia Almorhae and B. Lohachata, and the two common names are Pakistani and Yoyo Loach." It appears they have found it confusing enough that they have mixed it up themselves! Or am I wrong? I always thought Botia Almorhae was the scientific name for the Yoyo Loach.

Further along in the article, it also says
"they make a distinctive "smacking" sound when they take food from the surface." This made me chuckle!

It appears our campaign to spread the word about Loaches is a worthy one indeed, but we still have work to do. I think the book Loaches is an excellent tool for this, and given time, Loachaholism will catch on even more than it already has. Anyone who has had the pleasure of being able to watch Loaches in an aquarium will be drawn in by their quirky personalities and unique looks, will soon become one of us.

Best Wishes..,
soul-hugger