Can anyone identify this loach?

[djloach]

I bought some Kuhli loaches today and when I got home and looked in the bag of fish in addition to the kuhlis I found this small fish which is at most 1 inch long. It doesn't appear to be a baby kuhli but I suspect it is a loach of some kind. Anyone have any ideas of what it could be? Sorry for the quality of the picture. He is hanging out in my java moss and is hard to get a good angle on it.

[poeticpyro]

dojo loach aka...
"weather loach"

[djloach]

dojo loach aka...
"weather loach"

OK. That would have been my first guess.

[Martin Thoene]

Absolutely, definitely NOT a dojo-loach.

It looks more like a Lepidocephalichthys species.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/le ... -berdmorei

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/le ... hys-guntea

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/le ... s-hasselti

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/le ... -thermalis


Martin.

[djloach]

Here is another picture of him after he was nice enough to sit in the front corner of my tank.



He is probably not eel-like enough for a dojo/weather loach so Martin you might be right. He does look a fair bit like a Lepidocephalichthys hasselti.

[Martin Thoene]

Remember these fish are very variable in markings, so it may not look exactly like the fish in the profiles.
The natural range would be the same as many kuhlis, so it's quite feasible for one to creep in as a contaminant.

Lucky freebie anyway!

Martin.

[brett_fishman]

yea, definately not a dojo, looks to be one of martins suggested species..

good find, its a good looking fish!!

-brett.

[newshound]

so Martin you might be right.

Martin is never wrong