Loaches Online Forum

hey guys i picked up some hillstreams the other day labeled G. Myersi, but of course only one maybe two are actually Myersi. i've ided one as a G. ctenocephalus, but two i have no idea on. i've spent so much time scrolling through photos on google and on here that my gf is getting mad at me lol, so i'm asking for a little help.

the first one is this little guy


the other one is a gastromyzon, jet black with dark grey spots, and super plump....like reallly really plump, and also the size of a full grown sewellia lineolata. i don't have a photo because he is pretty shy, and hangs out on the back glass whenever i get close to the tanks he swims away.

Hello,
I think, name "G.myersi", apparently, should mean Pseudogastromyzon myersi. Just a guess.
At the photo real Gastromyzon looks like G.stellatus.

The Skinny Chef wrote:the size of a full grown sewellia lineolata.

What is the size in sm or inches? Shape of spots?
Pics would be helpful.

i

olly wrote:Hello,
I think, name "G.myersi", apparently, should mean Pseudogastromyzon myersi. Just a guess.
At the photo real Gastromyzon looks like G.stellatus.

The Skinny Chef wrote:the size of a full grown sewellia lineolata.

What is the size in sm or inches? Shape of spots?
Pics would be helpful.

thanks for the correction, they were labled as G. myersi, and i got somewhat confused after all the names i've been through. ok so, in actuality non of them are P. Myersi. the ones that i was assuming were myersi are actually the G. ctenocephalus, and gastromyzon punctulatus(i feel dumb now). i need to re-inspect ones tail to be sure.

as for the the large unphotographed one i would say just shy of 2 inches

i'm not confident on the g. stellatus id as stellatus seem to have more polka dots along the body and he is mostly broken lines...he is small so maybe just young and the patterning has not filled in?

i determined this morning that this is the tail of the large unphoto graphed one. he hangs out on the same rock as the little "G.stellatus"

Stellatus has variation in its pattern as does the closely related zebrinus. It may be either one. I have a very small specimen that looks similar to yours.

thank you jim.

i keep coming back to dr. tan saying that Stellatus has a larger head than zebrinus. i don't know if that is the case? however in nearly all of the photos of Stellatus i have seen they show blue in the tail fin, and i am yet to see that in mine.

Thats a good point. Zebrinus also has some blue in the tail and sometimes red, but it is not as easy to see as is the color in stellatus.
Of course this could always be something else altogether. Do you have Dr. Tan's book? I will look through mine and see if I can find another species that fits.

well that doesn' help if both can have blue in the tail :-/


I don't, i have always been able to find the answer via hours of web searching lol. i may have to go pick it up now though, i didn't realize how difficult this can be.