Hillstream ID

[mikev]

For a change, there is no information at all about this fish, not even the country of origin. ID'ng help is asked for...

My suspicion: H.Tweedie.





TIA

PS. And to make it a bit worse: I might have picked up a contaminant as well:



I'm not certain if this is a young fish of the same species, or stressed fish, or another species. I suspect another species since it also does not have any markings on the fins. Any idea what can this be?

[Emma Turner]

It's hard to tell from the first two pics, but are the pectoral and pelvic fins overlapping? If so, they won't be H. tweediei as they have a definite gap between the two sets of fins. Possibly H. smithii?

Emma

[mikev]

Thanks! A couple of bottom views:

(To me they are touching, not overlapping)





These are different fishes, both >2". The pale fish in the previous post is <1".


I don't know if this helps any but a couple of "paler ones" in the store had a definite red in their tails (exactly the same kind of red you can see in some Gastro tails).

[Graeme Robson]

Agreed with Emma. I'll go for H. smithii.

[mikev]

Thank you Graeme, Emma.

Any idea on the pale one? Another species/baby/stressed out fish?
(I do have another 1" fish in the tank which has valid Smithi/Tweedie markings)

[Emma Turner]

The H. smithiis posess the most amazing colour change capabilities, not only as a stress reaction, but also depending on which substrate they are resting on. Some specimens, despite having the common name Green Lizard Loach, actually have quite a bit of red on them too.

Emma

[Graeme Robson]

I would personally keep an eye on him. I have a thread some where and it's shows these chaps are very changeable in appearance. Some do go pale and some have very dark brown/reddish/green colours to suit there background. But i must point out that one of mine did die and was very pale looking.

[mikev]

Thanks for the warning.

The chances of them all dying are quite high: this is unquarantined fish from the place that supplied me with Nematodes and some unknown diseases. I'm going to try my best but I know the odds.

One last piece of info would be of help to me: do you recall if your pale one (or ones) had any black on their fins or the fins were totally transparent (the case here).

I may be wrong but I have an impression that the hillstreams can change their body color but not the fin color. Maybe Smithii are different in this respect?

[Jim Powers]

The slight fin overlap says "smithi" to me. As was said they are very good at color change to match whatever they are sitting on. That being said, I would agree with Graeme concerning possible health problems. Light colors can often be an early indicator that a hillstream will die.

[Graeme Robson]

Here's some pictures of mine.

[mikev]

TY!

Great pictures, and it very much looks like the same species. Up to a white triangle on the nose that I saw in the larger specimen.

Well, at the moment all (eight) look alive. Not eating, however, not even bloodworms. I'll give them some Levamisole and Furon and we'll see what happens.

[Martin Thoene]

Yeah....I'd be slightly worried, but that third one is intrigueing. I've never seen a smithi with a dark lateral band like that.

Martin.

[mikev]

Yeah....I'd be slightly worried, but that third one is intrigueing. I've never seen a smithi with a dark lateral band like that.

Martin.

There were five like this at the store. Almost no pattern, no paint on the fins, very strong lateral line -- darker than this baby, two had red in the tails (like G.ocelatus). Fin overlap was identical to "painted", so were other obvious characteristics -- I checked this at the store. Did not appear dying. I'll try to go back and snap a picture of a large one (about 1.5").

----

APPEND. Interestingly, the pale/sick one was the first to start eating, consumed quite a lot of frozen shrimp for its size. They don't seem to care much for bloodworms. OK, I now have at least four eating, including a large one .

[Graeme Robson]

Jim and Martin pointed this out to me, with regards to the eating habits. These chaps are Hunters, mine love to hide or wait near mid levels and once they see the Brine shrimp floating past....Bang! they attack in one fast movement. This also applies with other foods. Personally, this is best viewed with tank lights off. Good to know at least some of yours are eating though.

[Jim Powers]

That's good news that they are eating. This species seems to start eating sooner than many of the hillstreams. Its interesting they are not eating bloodworms, though. I suspect that will change. Mine absolutely love them.