Loaches Online Forum

I think I've finally discovered that my little guy that came in with the Rosy Loaches is a small Checkerboard Sand Loach. He's still a slightly different color than the others, heavily marked, somewhat longer and slimmer. He reacts with the Rosy Loaches but yet remains apart from them. He swims differently and is not as heavily bodied as the little Rosy.

The first photo is of two of the Rosy Loaches.



The next photo shows two Rosy Loaches and the mystery guy. Notice the head.



Now the mystery guy alone


He's a bit more checked than he appears to be in this photo.

That actually looks very much like a juvenile Characidium Sp

these guys?

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_characidium.php

A South American contaminant in an Asian shipment? Possible, but less likely.

Wendie, try to get a blow up of its face, and see if it has barbels. This will narrow it down.

No luck with the photo as he's hard to get anyway but I'll keep trying.

He does have 4 barbels. Two short in front and two longer behind those.

Wendie wrote:No luck with the photo as he's hard to get anyway but I'll keep trying.

He does have 4 barbels. Two short in front and two longer behind those.

Barbels are more common in loaches than in tetras

Compare the barbels with the other rosies. This may give you a clearer feeling if it is the same species or not (I think it is.)

Looking at the the first photo on this post, is it just me or is the 'female' looking more and more like a young Yunnanilis brevis?

The.Dark.One wrote:Looking at the the first photo on this post, is it just me or is the 'female' looking more and more like a young Yunnanilis brevis?

Both me and Graeme commented on how alike the Rosy Loaches and Yunnanilis brevis look when we were at Emma and Steves shop on Friday, they certainly look to be very closely related.

Here's a couple of pics of Yunnanilus brevis for comparison with the Rosies:

Freshly imported juveniles.....


3 months on.....


Emma

Thanks Emma

Your first picture - the fish in it although juvenile, seem much bigger than the rosy loaches?

Also, the adult pics of brevis, some of the males are exhibiting a 'rosy' colour. (Look at the fish in the bottom left corner which is turning)Coincidence?

In Yunnanilus brevis both males and females have the rosy finage, Steve. The males are smaller with a solid stripe, while the females are larger and develop a mottled pattern.

On arrival, those Yunnanilus brevis were already twice the length of the Rosy loaches. Although the Rosies have filled out nicely, they've grown very little in length since arrival (and they've been with us for a while now), which makes me think they will not attain a very large adult size.

Emma

Graeme Robson wrote:In Yunnanilus brevis both males and females have the rosy finage, Steve. The males are smaller with a solid stripe, while the females are larger and develop a mottled pattern.

Hi Graeme

I knew about the pattern differences in brevis, but not the red finnage. The pattern differences seem to be the same or vry similar on the rosy loaches.

Also, Emma, do we know if the rosy loaches are imported from the 'wild'? They look awfully small to be wild imports, are they tank bred? If so they could be hormone induced or crossed hybrids?

Hi Steve. After i posted my reply, i realized that i was just repeating your words with the patterns. Sorry fragile state is i at the moment.

Steve, I believe they are wild-caught, but I'll do some digging and let you know....

Emma