Mixed hillstream loaches

[Azmeaiel]

Our LPS gets these fish in always listed as 'Borneo sucker' these are 2 of the 4 different ones they get in. any idea of the id?

[Azmeaiel]

the little spotted fellow has developed a red/blue tail now he has settled a little.

[Jim Powers]

Nice, healthy looking fish. Both species are Gastromyzons. We are trying to clarify the identification, but it appears that we will settle on the spotted one being Gastromyzon ctenocephalus (you will see it often as punctalatus). The other species, as far as I know, does not have a species name yet.

[Azmeaiel]

It looked a little similar to one of the preserved specimins in the pics, hard to tell though.

[Mark in Vancouver]

If you have a tank that will suit them, nab those fish! Regardless of which species name we apply to them, many of us here keep one or both. I have both, and they turned up at the same time, in the same shipment. They don't appear that often, so if you have or can set up a river tank, jump at it. You won't care about their taxonomy - great loaches that do well in a good tank.

[Martin Thoene]

As Jim said, the left-hand one is Gastromyzon ctenocephalus Does yours now look like this?



The other one is probably an as yet undescribed species....probably this one...



What sort of tank setup do you have Azmeaiel ?

Martin.

[Hendra]

Agree with Jim and Martin, G. ctenocephalus and G. sp (undescribed)., I give code for this new species SW01 (Sarawak 01,this code just to make me easier to remember)

Since this fishes can "crawling" the surface of glass, make sure your water level not very high (or almost same level with tank's glass), in initial introduce to new tank.I lost 3 G. ctenocephalus because of that, I found them dehidrated in floor.

[Azmeaiel]

As Jim said, the left-hand one is Gastromyzon ctenocephalus Does yours now look like this?


What sort of tank setup do you have Azmeaiel ?

Martin.

the spotty one looks a little like the first but has a line of very large spots along the top of the back and less spots on the flanks. where the fish in your pic has a white dorsal mine has yellow, the caudial on mine is now red on the outer edges and blue in the middle. I will get a pic when it comes out of hiding. The tank is a ten gal, planted with rounded gravel, large moss covered rocks, a powerhead that is running water through the tank too fast for most 'normal' fish such as guppies tetras etc (seems ok for small endlers though) it is very fast flowing. the only other loach is the new homapotera confuzona . ph usually sits between 7.0 and 7.2. I have larger tanks available but these all contain large loricards and other big cats like hoplo.

[Martin Thoene]

Right...there seem to be two variations of G. ctenocephalus...might even be different species or regional variations. Here's a comparison. The top one is most like your's I'm guessing.



Martin.

[Azmeaiel]

yes it is very much like the top although the outer edges of the caudial are a tiny bit redder, the inside is blueish but the spot pattern and body shape are identicle. I was lucky enough to get another 2 specimins of the G. ctenocephalus and another of the 'unidentified' from the same LPS, BTW what are some tips on sexing these little guys?