Loaches Online Forum

Hi all, fish novice here so please be nice!

Ok, long story made relatively short: I got 2 'borneo suckers' about 3 months ago. I knew nothing about them, but since have been doing loads of research on them, particularly Gastromyzon because the 2 I have seem to be Gastromyzon (ocellatus and ctenocephalus.)

The problem is, whenever I go into fish stores they just insist that these fish are 'Borneo Suckers' or 'Butterfly Loaches' and I feel quite rude when I disagree. For example, today I was told by the stock taker of a specialist fish store that 'all the ones with red tails are female, and ones with blue tails are male, regardless of whether they are stripy or dotty.'

Now seeing as I'm only 17, and I only began to learn (via the internet! Which isn't renowned for it's reliability ) about these fish a few weeks ago, I feel very rude and arrogant when I disagree. So can somebody please assure me that this isn't true? Am I right in thinking these are separate species, or is this something I've misunderstood?

On a side note, there was a loach in there that looked like a ctenocephalus (in that it had a dotty/speckled pattern throughout) but had a red tail like that of an ocellatus, instead of the stripes that I thought were normal for ctenos. Does anybody have a suggestion to what this species could be? Or is it possible they are hybridising?

Please please answer, I hate feeling unsure whenever I speak to the shop owners...

You have to remember that when you go into a store, you are going into someone's domain. Often times the people in the store feel they are supposed to know everything about fish even if they don't. Its just a matter of human pride. I have run into this many times when trying to inform staff in on hillstreams or other loaches. The fact that you are so young probably just makes things worse.
Fortunately, not all fish store workers are like this.
All you can do is know that you are correct and let them know that info is available online at this site.
And yes, you are correct...those are separate species. As far as I know, tail color has nothing to do with the sex of the fish either.
Sometimes G. scitulus have red on the edge of the tail so that may be what you are seeing.

Thanks Jim
I'll bear that in mind next time I'm there! It's a good shop really, so I'd like to keep a good relationship with the people there (especially if they're the people importing friends for 'Pablo' and 'Dyson'! ) Telling them about this site is a great idea, hopefully the more informed people become about these loaches the better they can be kept and prepared for! Thanks for your advice

Eika