Homaloptera ID

[sphaerichthys]

What do you think?

[mattyd]

I think i have the same species:



(sorry about the ordinary picture.... It looks like I'll need to take a better picture tonight)

[plaalye]

tweedeii or smithi? Looks like the fins do not overlap but difficult to tell fron the pic.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ho ... a-tweediei
Homaloptera tweediei is distinguished from Homaloptera smithi in that its pelvic and pectoral fins do not overlap.

[Lindsey]

I've got the same type of fish, and the same question! When I got him he was skinny and I thought for sure it was H. Smithi, but after having the fish for several months it's fattened up and now its fins just barely touch, so I've decided it's probably H. tweediei. I'm trying to get my hands on more of them because the one I have is one of my favorite fish- so much personality! It was shy at first and I had trouble getting it to eat because when i put food in the tank the powerheads shot it all over and the poor fish had trouble retrieving it... I started "target" feeding it tiny pieces of chopped prawns on the tip of a bamboo skewer and boy does (s)he love that! It's become quite friendly- when it sees me come near the tank it hops over to the front and waits for food! Awesome fish for sure!

[mattyd]

The fins definitetly don't overlap on mine. I have 3x smithi, and I love the way they change color depending on what they are hanging out on... dark drift wood = almost black, white pebble gravel = creamy colored.

If the below is a tweediei, then it would make sense when you look at the triangles on his back. However mine is considerably lighter in color than the ones in the loachesonline page. He loves sitting on the rock in the full blast of the power head and he is so quick that he can grab a blood worm or black worm on the fly as they swoosh past.

Excuse my poor photography. I was just using my old N82 with flash through dirty and scratchy glass.

[Jim Powers]

mattyd;
Your fish looks more like Homaloptera yunnanensis to me.
Check out the pics on the species profile and see what you think. They often come in mixed with H. smithi and H. tweediei.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ho ... unnanensis

[Matt]

Hi Jim given its natural range I don't think H. yunnanensis is likely to have been in the trade and reckon mattyd's fish is this one:

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.ph ... l]&id=1426

Agree that the original one posted by Sphaerichthys is probably H. tweediei based on the position of the pectoral fins in relation to the pelvics.

[Jim Powers]

Thanks for the info, Matt. I agree.

[mattyd]

Wow, you guys have been amazingly helpful. I agree with Matt above, mine is probably H. sexmaculata or H. leonardi. I say this because it was pulled from a dealers tank where there were my bunch of larger Homaloptera smithi and tweedie as well as many other much smaller fish of similar shape. I might go back there in a few weeks and buy a few others like my lonely fella.

If only it was easier to purchase tanks in the size 3ft long, 1ft wide, 8inches high. That'd be a perfect size for hillstream tanks so I could house individual species to try and breed.