Three loaches to identify

[riz1983]

Hi guys,

First time posting and needing help with identifying three of my loaches:

1.
4.5 - 5 cm
I reckon Lepidocephalichthys hasselti or Lepidocephalus cf. thermalis?


2.
10+ cm
With a hulking body like that it can only be Pangio myersi, right?



3.
6 - 7cm
Now this is a doozy. Might just a funky-patterned Pangio kuhlii, but the lack of a black bar in the caudal tail perhaps suggests Pangio alternans?


Cheers for the help!

PS: Hmmm somehow the pics are a little bit cropped on the right hand side. How come?

[DainBramage1991]

The top one looks like a Lepidocephalichthys guntea, aka peppered loach.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/le ... hys-guntea

My son has two of these little guys in his tank, and they look just like yours.

Someone else will have to ID the khulis.

[riz1983]

It does look like a Lepidocephalichthys guntea, however the size suggests differently.

Had a google around and the third loach with the funky pattern might just be an undescribed species according to this link:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pangio-sp-pan03/

Seems like there are tons more pangio species out there waiting to be described. How lucky am I to be living in Indonesia. Gotta go back to my local fish shop and see if I can fish out some more weird ones before they sell them to some wide-eyed five-year-old kid with an appeasing parent

[DainBramage1991]

Your peppered loach looks like a young one, about the same size my son's were when we got them.

Don't let the small size fool you, I'm quite confident that your fish is a Lepidocephalichthys guntea.

By way of comparison, here is a pic of one of my son's fish:



They have grown a bit since this was taken, but they are still quite small.