Loaches Online Forum

Hi folks! I could use an identification on the following two critters. The first came in with a batch of Vanmanenia, and the second with a batch of Beaufortia levertti. Both out of Hong Kong.



This fish is always as pale as you see it here.



This one appears to hold itself up on its pectoral fins.

Reaaaaal difficult one there Frank. The first one sort of looks like Oreonectes platycephalus, but it could be any sort of Schistura or Nemacheilus species. There are just so many possibles and little good photographic evidence to cross-reference.

Check #8 here: http://www.ibsfu.fudan.edu.cn/Database/ ... /book2.htm
Fix that red mixture of symbols in your head and check the same headed lists on the various pages.....some cool fish.
http://www.ibsfu.fudan.edu.cn/Database/ ... /book1.htm
http://www.ibsfu.fudan.edu.cn/Database/ ... /book3.htm

There's loads of Balitoridae on these 3 pages

The other one, I'll stick my neck out as being Homaloptera hoffmanni http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Sp ... hp?id=7758

Again, no corroborating photograph. I can't find one anywhere, but they're listed for Hong Kong.

Martin.

Since Beaufortia are from China, perhaps the second fish is this species or another Sinohomaloptera.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/ ... imgAnch186

Hehe Jim! Zhou Hang's site was my next port of call

Looks like a highly possible candidate there.

Martin.

These two names are actually claimed to be synonyms: From the fishbase Hoffmanni entry:

Synonym of *Balitora kwangsiensis* (Fang 1930) -- (Kottelat & Chu 1988:189 [ref. 13491]). Synonym of *Sinohomaloptera kwangsiensis* (Fang 1930) -- (Chen in Kuang et al. 1986:152 [ref. 26639], Chen & Tang in Yue 2000:531 [ref. 25272]). Type catalog: Böhlke 1953:40 [ref. 12291].

There a strong similarity to small specimen of what I called SpB before and what was shipped as a Hoffmanni. It is possible that a face shot will give a much better idea. A grown-up Hoffmanni has very powerful barbels:



Smaller specimens had a "bar" pattern on the back and a very pronounced triangle on their heads like on your fish. Now, sitting on the front fins is the trademark behavior of my fish, but this proves nothing.

A side view of that fish would be very helpful, mikev.

(grown one a couple of days ago)


(young one)

I turned the lights on in Mr Tree's tank



Martin.

Interesting looking fish.
I just checked fishbase and I couldn't find that Sinohomaloptera kwangsienensis was a synonym of H. hoffmani.

Hmmm, Martin. I couldn't get that image to post and had to leave a link.

Wow. Nice job.

All right, then neither Frank's fish nor mine is Hoffmani.

Jim Powers wrote:Interesting looking fish.
I just checked fishbase and I couldn't find that Sinohomaloptera kwangsienensis was a synonym of H. hoffmani.

Go to H.Hoffmanni entry and click on "Hoffmanni", you get this:

http://www.fishbase.org/Eschmeyer/EschP ... fm?ID=7758

That whiskery face of your fish, mikev never ceases to crack me up.

That's odd, mikev.
Check this out from fishbase.
http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/Sy ... =hoffmanni

Jim Powers wrote:That whiskery face of your fish, mikev never ceases to crack me up.

The personality that goes with the face is even better.
An unshaved homeless on PCP.