Loach ID

LES.. · Post by **LES..** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:58 pm

It's yet another unidentified fishy object ;-)
I found this in with a shipment of Beaufortia kweichowensis at my LFS. Can anyone hazard an opinion on what this is?
(my apologies for the poor picture quality)

Clicking on the images should link to a full size version.

This shipment is still in quarantine at the moment so i did not buy ;-) There was another very similar looking loach in this shipment, smaller, much darker in colour and very determined not to be photographed but with similar markings.

Thanks in advance, LES..

Graeme Robson · Post by **Graeme Robson** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:05 pm

Looks like the Sinogastromyzon wui.

Martin Thoene · Post by **Martin Thoene** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:39 pm

Sinogastromyzon wui was my initial thought, but the lack of any markings around the lateral line area kind of threw me. So I did some searching on Sinogastromyzon images and possibly hit paydirt in a roundabout way.

http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Sp ... p?id=55408

Looks closer to me.

You did buy it LES?......please tell me you bought it......a rarity to be sure.

Martin.

Jim Powers · Post by **Jim Powers** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:14 pm

I would initially say it was S. wui, also, but this link from Martin does confuse things.

I would like to see what it looks like from underneath and see if it has a broad head like S. wui. These maybe showing up as contaminants too, and were thought to be S. wui. Thanks, Martin!

However, to further confuse things,the S. wui I have or have had didn't always initially have any markings along the lateral area. Some have developed them over time.
The shape, especially the rubbery looking snout, looks like wui to me, but it may be another Sinogastromyzon species too. The color is a bit light though, maybe due to stress. If you did buy it, I would definately quarentine it for a bit. S. wui seem to show up occasionally in beaufortia shipments and are a nice find.
If you notice in the species index there is some variation in markings.
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/si ... n_wui.html

As for keeping them, they are an interesting fish, similar to beaufortia in behaviour but a bit more reclusive. I have two now that I have had for 4-5 years and I have only seen them eat bloodworms. I even have one trained to eat out of the end of a feeding tube.

Graeme Robson · Post by **Graeme Robson** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:39 pm

It's a pity, Les didn't capture images of the darker smaller specimens. They sure would be interesting to see.

LES.. · Post by **LES..** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:14 pm

Thanks for all the replys.

I was being very hopefull that this was Sinogastromyzon Wui but the very light colour put doubts in my mind. I did not buy it as the fish are all being quarantined at the shop. I am very concerned about the fish in this shipment, a number of the Beaufortia show the patchy symptoms mentioned in the hillstream disiese articles. With all my cheni fry in my Qtank at the moment I will have to invest in another tank (mlts is in full force!) it's a little ironic that we only stopped by the shop as they had just got our new tank in and we wanted to check it before delivery...

I will probably reserve this loach and its dark companion, oh well it will mean another tank, Susan will be so pleased.

adampetherick · Post by **adampetherick** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:19 pm

Which shops do you use LES, that's no MA in Woking by any chance?

Graeme Robson · Post by **Graeme Robson** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:10 am

LES.. wrote:I will probably reserve this loach and its dark companion, oh well it will mean another tank, Susan will be so pleased.

Why not!

Hopefully Susan will understand if you say it's for 'research' matters.

LES.. · Post by **LES..** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:19 am

*Sigh* Why can't every fish shop be like Emma's?

The Maidenhead aquatics in Woking does not allow fish to be reserved and has apparently put this shipment on sale today... It will be a disaster for the fish if they are sold in the state they were in on Fiday.

I guess the manager wanted to hit the weekend crowds. Arrgh! i'm 200 miles away from home this weekend.

We head back on Monday, now early on Monday...

Graeme Robson · Post by **Graeme Robson** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:20 am

Fingers crossed for you, Les!

Emma Turner · Post by **Emma Turner** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:50 pm

LES.. wrote: The Maidenhead aquatics in Woking does not allow fish to be reserved and has apparently put this shipment on sale today... It will be a disaster for the fish if they are sold in the state they were in on Fiday.

I guess the manager wanted to hit the weekend crowds.

That really does surprise me, but the shops in the M/A chain are all run individually by the particular partner/manager involved.

Where are they keeping them LES? Please don't tell me on their goldfish system? I'm trying to sort out group-wide guidelines on stocking and keeping hillstreams, but I've got so much going on at the moment, it probably won't happen as quickly as I'd like it to.

Emma

adampetherick · Post by **adampetherick** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:31 pm

If it's the ones I'm thinking of they are on the back wall above the large clown / silver shark tank

helen nightingale · Post by **helen nightingale** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:59 pm

petsmart in norwich have "borneo suckers" in with the goldfish

Les good luck with getting them. maybe Susan wont mind if you say its for rescue purposes too. it would be good to know they would be going to a good home.

LES.. · Post by **LES..** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:51 pm

Emma Turner wrote:That really does surprise me, but the shops in the M/A chain are all run individually by the particular partner/manager involved.
...
Where are they keeping them LES? Please don't tell me on their goldfish system?

To be honest i am surprised too. Previously i have had some very good conversations with the guys at this shop about hillstreams and they have always seemed very switched on to making sure the fish are well cared for.

The hillstreams are being held along side the Danos and white clouds, well away from the gold fish which is a good thing.

Who knows where this managment stance is comming from, I will have to see if i can talk to those responsible directly.

LES.. · Post by **LES..** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:42 am

Well the mystery loaches are now set up in a quarantine tank.

This is the larger of the two, the other is still being just as uncooperative when it comes to taking pictures as it was in the shop. I'm sure that i will get a shot over the next few days. Unfortunately the Q-tank we bought has a curved glass front making focusing a little harder than usual (sorry about that).

Observations so far: The larger one has decided that sitting still is the best defence against the new and scary although the nice posing stone i provided seems to have been gratefully accepted. The smaller one seems more active and is an absolute beauty, when you get to see it, at the moment it is sitting on the base of the filter and all we see is the occasional nose or tail.
We introduced them to a small amount of brine shrimp this morning, noses were wrinkled in the general direction and i believe the larger of the two nibbled on a particle that floated past, not much interest there.

Loaches Online Forum

Loach ID

Loach ID

Got them ;-)

Who is online

Go to page

About us