Help identifying leucistic loach that showed up with kuhlis?

[joclru]

I mail-ordered some kuhli loaches—pangio kuhlii/semicincta—to add company to the 4 my LFS had (I bought all of them, but felt they should have a larger group). When I received the package of additional kuhlis in the mail, there was one obvious oddball. At first, my thought was this was an albino/leucistic kuhli and there was nothing to worry about. However, as you'll see in the images, it has no stripes whereas every albino kuhli I've seen retains some striping.

My best guess is that it is a leucistic chocolate kuhli—pangio oblonga—but I've never seen one of these for comparison. I'm also no expert, just a copious researcher! I've had some warn me that it could be a very young golden dojo loach, but I have to think that this is unlikely. With that said, again, I could be missing the signs here and I would have to find it a new home if it is a dojo loach. That's why I'm asking for help.

Please see two images below of the loach in question from while he was acclimating. In the bag, he was the most active. In the tank, i do not see him with the 8 other kuhlis very often, who spend a lot of time out and about and being funny. I've only seen this light colored fellow a few times over the past several days (only had him that long), always after I put food out though it hasn't appeared every time they have been fed.

At this point, it's probably no more than 2" long and is noticeably thinner and shorter than the kuhlis I bought at my LFS. With that said, its proportions are basically equivalent with the other kuhlis that it shipped with, which all appear younger than the kuhlis I bought at my LFS.

I'm linking to the images because they are otherwise far too large.
https://i.imgur.com/IPmz5pQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JNqtuKe.jpg

[redshark1]

Very interesting. Unfortunately I cannot help as I have only knowledge of a few loaches.

Better to have him than not though! Lovely fish!

[joclru]

Very interesting. Unfortunately I cannot help as I have only knowledge of a few loaches.

Better to have him than not though! Lovely fish!

Thanks for the response! I am restricted in my loach knowledge as well, before this group I always owned catfish species when it came to bottom-dwelling fish.

I think my main worries are 1. That if he's not the same species, he may feel lonely/isolated/stressed/whatever else goes along with being kept singly. and 2. If he's a dojo/weather loach, he's going to end up being way too big for this 29 gallon tank, especially sharing it with these kuhlis. I just want everyone to be healthy and happy!

Considering that my other kuhlis are extremely active and I often see almost all 8 of them out at the same time while I have gone 36-48 hours now without seeing this leucistic fellow, I have to think it must not feel that the other loaches are of the same species.

For anyone else reading, let me know if there are any parts of this oddball's anatomy that it would be helpful to get a closer look at. I'd be happy to do my best to draw the guy out of hiding and try to snap some better photos.

[Diana]

Look at the shape of the tail fin when the fish has it flared out.
Dojo Loaches have a 'spade' shaped tail- no obvious fork, not even a hint of a fork. More like it is rounded outward.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

Compare to various species of Pangio- Some have little or no fork, but some do have a bit of a fork to the tail.
Almost flat tail:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-oblonga
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-filinaris

This is not much of a difference, though.

If you can count the rays in the dorsal fin, and see how many fork, and where, this might help.
Compare to the other ('real') Kuhli Loaches you have, see if they are similar or different.
Then see if you can find species descriptions that include dorsal fin ray counts.

[joclru]

Look at the shape of the tail fin when the fish has it flared out.
Dojo Loaches have a 'spade' shaped tail- no obvious fork, not even a hint of a fork. More like it is rounded outward.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

Compare to various species of Pangio- Some have little or no fork, but some do have a bit of a fork to the tail.
Almost flat tail:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-oblonga
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-filinaris

This is not much of a difference, though.

If you can count the rays in the dorsal fin, and see how many fork, and where, this might help.
Compare to the other ('real') Kuhli Loaches you have, see if they are similar or different.
Then see if you can find species descriptions that include dorsal fin ray counts.

Thank you for your help, this really helps me know what to focus on when trying to identify this little thing. From my pictures, the tail in particular would make it seem to be a very young dojo. With that said, it has now been about 4 days since I saw it...I assume it must be alive, but it clearly isn't happy being with 8 of a different species!

[bobleeno]

I guess its a juvenile Black khuli. I've just got 5 from pets at home to join my solitary black khuli whose 9 years old. I think he will get on well with the others but probs hide more. I've only seen my black khuli when i feed bloodworms, they adore them

[joclru]

I've seen this little dude a few more times and gotten some pictures. Clearly not shoaling with the other kuhlis, but has emerged especially after putting live blackworms on the bottom of the tank. Here's a link to a few more pictures: http://imgur.com/a/98Vh4

I got a good look at the tail as it rested on my heater's suction cups. The way it fanned out looks a bit different than weather/dojo loaches to me, more like the shape of my kuhlis. What is kind of interesting, though, is its coloration in general does not look as pink to me as in the original pictures.

[Diana]

In these pics it looks more like a Kuhlie Loach than a Dojo.

[joclru]

I agree that the more I think about it, look at other kuhlis/Pangio loaches and compare with other dojos, it seems this fellow is a some type of kuhli/Pangio. Now I have the predicament that it doesn't really socialize with the other kuhlis. The others are out all the time, at any given moment there is always at least 1 or 2 visible and it is not at all uncommon for me to see all 8 of the others when I sit in front of the tank for a while. This guy, though, I often go days without seeing him and when I do, he seems less apt to be in the same spaces as the others, though he doesn't avoid them entirely. I'm not sure there is much I can do about that; I would happily add more of his species, say if he was a black kuhli...but if I'm wrong, I've only made the problem worse.

[joclru]

I think I may have this resolved. I did my weekly tradition of heading to my LFS when new fish shipments come in and peaked in the "kuhli loach" tank...lo and behold, there's another light-colored bugger just like my fellow! Not only did the color match closely, but the body shape and even this little black freckle on the ventral side that I saw on my guy when acclimating. I came back later to bring the oddball home and there were actually two of them out and about! The LFS owner said that these were labeled, without species name, as "black kuhli" (presumably Pangio oblonga?) by the importer.

Once I got home with these two "black kuhlis" that looked like mine, they suddenly didn't look as much like mine. They had taken on a darker color, more like my impression of a black kuhli. Of course, I remember being surprised that my own guy went from a pink color while acclimating to a light tan after spending time in the tank. Now, for the moment of truth, I got a picture of all 3 together in my tank. While one is clearly darker, the other new one is actually very close to the same shade of tan/light brown. Whether these are Pangio oblonga, I'm not sure since most of the database photos show far chubbier fish, but they look to me like three of a kind.

Link to photo, since it shows up too large when embedded: http://i.imgur.com/HqQx50D.jpg