Loaches Online Forum

I got a group of Hainan Island loaches today (came in as Vanmanenia hainanensis) In this group were two contaiminents (see pics below). Any ideas? Supposedly they all came from the same place, if that's of any help.

Here's a pic of the Vannies:

I think Ive got a book on Fishes of Hainan. If someone hasnt replied by the time I get home, I'll have a look.

The light coloured, drably patterned fish is possibly Schistura incerta.

I'm struggling with the stripey one. Can you try and get a better side shot?

This Neonoemacheilus mengdingensis looks similar but says it's from China:


Courtesy Google Images

shari2 wrote:This Neonoemacheilus mengdingensis looks similar but says it's from China:

This may not be a real problem.

Vanmanenia hainanensis seems to be quite similar to "Common Vannie" , Vanmanenia sp., from the mainland (actually, it would be nice to see a larger photo of the Hainan fish), Beaufortia's appear to be similar, so why not similar -- or the same Neonoemacheilus?

Might be interesting to check geology, Hainan might have been connected to the mainland relatively recently.

I thought about mendingensis (which is from Yunnan - not a million miles from Hainan), but the barbel structure didnt look right to me. Look at the barbels in your photo, they are fixed forward, whereas in the mendingensis they are small, and fixed backwards.

Some Hainan fishes do occur on the nearby mainland province of Guangdong.

Here's two pics of the banded loach. One of the whole body and one of the head.

Here's two pics of the Vannie (whole body and head). Note the prominent lateral line.

The light coloured, drably patterned fish is possibly Schistura incerta.

Providing this species has absolutly no patterning. These fish are positively devoid of any markings, so far.

Looks a bit like this species I found as a contaminant with white cheeked gobies.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/sc ... -unknown05


By the way, I love those Vannies!

Jim Powers wrote:Looks a bit like this species I found as a contaminant with white cheeked gobies.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/sc ... -unknown05

Yep, that looks like it.

By the way, I love those Vannies!

Me too. Neat little critters.

I wonder what is the defining difference between these guys and the "Common Vannies".... did you see any? (They do feel different on the group photo, but I cannot see anything specific).... maybe the rays should be counted just in case.

Here's a side by side pictorial comparison:





Some minor differences in body and fin markings, from what I can see.

Frank M. Greco wrote:

The light coloured, drably patterned fish is possibly Schistura incerta.

Providing this species has absolutly no patterning. These fish are positively devoid of any markings, so far.

Hi Frank

Yes incerta has no patterning.
The other fish is probably Schistura fasciolata, which was described from Hainan.