just seen an amazing loach

[Graeme Robson]

I still say it's a 'Oddball' Almorhae. You guy's not remember this Almorhae i had many years ago?

[helen nightingale]

Graeme your photos seem to show the almorhae way of looking at you in the bottom pic he seems to be saying "oi! you lookin' at me?" He looks like he was a really unusual fish.

kubotai and almorhae seem to vary so much in colouration. i'd love to know what he really is.

Martin sent me a paper on kubotai, and this is what it says on the difference between almorhae and kubotai

there are more bands on the caudal fin (7, vs. 3-4 in B. kubotai), on the pectoral fin (5, vs. 2-3) and on the dorsal fin (3, vs. 2)

from looking at the pictures of almorhae on the species index, i'm not sure about some of these. this isnt going to simple i am starting to wish that people at work could do animal DNA testing as well as plants - there seems to be papers out there on loach DNA.

oh well, if i never find out, then at least he is still a beautifull fish. the orange finnage is so pretty

[Graeme Robson]

Helen. The Kubotai doesn't come from India and Nepal. The almorhae does. These loaches are supplied direct to Emma's store from India.

Interesting how one fish makes us all ponder and wonder so much.

[Emma Turner]

It's the colour and markings on the fins that are baffling me. It also has a 'blushing' appearance as seen in some species of fish. I might drop Andrew & co in India a line to see if they've come across these before....

Emma

[helen nightingale]

it would be interesting to know whether this is just a really odd looking almorhae, or whether it is something the people in India see quite often

Emma can you describe the blushing? i havent come across this before.

i wonder how this fish will change in colouration, if at all

[Graeme Robson]

I suppose it's time to ask the Asian keepers and collectors.

[Emma Turner]

I suppose it's time to ask the Asian keepers and collectors.

Done! I've posed the question to our friends over on petfrd.

Emma can you describe the blushing? i havent come across this before.

Some fish have red/pink pigmented areas just by the gills, which gives it the appearance 'blushing'. I know there are strains of Angel fish that have this blushing, and the pictures below of the Violet blushing sharks (Labeo boga) show this quite nicely. Your mystery loach has an element of this blushing around the gill area, although obviously not quite so noticeable. I've been observing the fish for some time and it is certainly nothing to worry about, just pigmentation.







Emma

[Graeme Robson]

Possible ID from our friends. Botia Birdi.

I've told them the locality of Botia Birdi is Rupar, where the Sirhind Canal diverges from the Sutlej, Punjab, India.

Interesting!

[Emma Turner]

Very interesting indeed! I've looked in the old loach books by Menon that Andrew gave me, but the only photos of B. birdi are those awful preserved specimens, and it is impossible to say one way or the other.

Emma

[Jim Powers]

I thought birdi was now called rostrata?

[Graeme Robson]

Was that not dayii, Jim?

[Jim Powers]

No I wasn't thinking of dayi. However, I can't find anything stating that birdi is actually rostrata, so I must be losing my mind or something.

[Graeme Robson]

lol i Had the same problem in the Pangio thread just before.

[Mike Ophir]

To my knowledge B. birdii is synonymous with B. dario....interesting...

Mike

[Mike Ophir]

Either B. kubotai has a distributional range in India that has been previously undocumented or its a diff species. Was the fish actually collected in India? what other fish did it come in with?

Mike