Mystery loaches

The forum for the very best information on loaches of all types. Come learn from our membership's vast experience!

Moderator: LoachForumModerators

Post Reply
User avatar
Emma Turner
Posts: 8901
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:07 pm
Location: Peterborough, UK
Contact:

Mystery loaches

Post by Emma Turner » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:57 pm

I was due to receive 2 new loach species yesterday, but one of the two types I was invoiced for was not in the box at all (very disappointing), and the other was actually something else. :?

I took some photographs of this new species whilst we were acclimatising them yesterday evening. The pictures are terrible because they were taken in the dark and I couldn't get the camera to focus, but I thought they were probably worth posting until I get a chance to take some more (decent) pics of them once settled. They are clearly some type(s) of hillstream loach and you can see some of them clinging upside down to the almond leaves in the shipping bag. The supplier these came from specialises in Indonesian fish, but that is all I know (and likely to be able to find out I think! :roll: ). What I noticed straight away is that the heads of these fish are extremely rounded/broad:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Probably the best pic of the lot....
Image

I know they are thin, but we will fatten them up. :wink: :D
Any ideas?

Emma
Image
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
Image

User avatar
Jim Powers
Posts: 5208
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Bloomington, Indiana

Post by Jim Powers » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:13 pm

Very interesting, Emma. Those look like you took characteristics from several hillstream species, threw them together, and put in a dash of schistura. :?

Better save some for Graeme. :wink:
Image

User avatar
Graeme Robson
Posts: 9096
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:34 am
Location: Peterborough, UK
Contact:

Post by Graeme Robson » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:19 pm

Oh! Very nice!! :D

They look like the Homaloptera gymnogaster. I wants!! 8)
Image

User avatar
Emma Turner
Posts: 8901
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:07 pm
Location: Peterborough, UK
Contact:

Post by Emma Turner » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:50 pm

I see what you mean. Yes I think that could be them! 8) Will try for some better pics over the next couple of days. :D

Emma
Image
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
Image

User avatar
Martin Thoene
Posts: 11186
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:38 am
Location: Toronto.....Actually, I've been on LOL since September 1998

Post by Martin Thoene » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:01 pm

I was looking through here at body shapes.......

http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/identifica ... &areacode=

I did a search on Fishbase of all Indonesian freshwater fish......generally, i come down on the side of a Homaloptera or that with one of the prefixes to the name.

Here's Heok Hee's dark, dark picture from that old profile (if you can call it that) with the lights on for some clarification....

Image

Looks possible....or a related species. Your species seem to have a lower Dorsal ray count.

PD nice, whatever.
Martin.
Image Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Image

User avatar
Jim Powers
Posts: 5208
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Bloomington, Indiana

Post by Jim Powers » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:17 pm

That does look like Hoek Hee's pic.
What seems odd to me, though, is that these fish (both Emma's and Hoek Hee's) seem to have a Chinese hillstream look to them with the head shape and barbels. They almost look Crossostoma-like in that regard. But, there is a range in appearance within homaloptara. Just compare smithi to orthogoniata.
Cool looking fish, regardless.
I knew you would want some, Graeme. :wink:
Image

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 203 guests