Burmese Orchid Botia

[Emma Turner]

A couple of weeks back, I received a shipment of what the supplier listed as Burmese Orchid Loach - Botia histrionica. These were tiny at just about 1" TL and were reportedly the first catch of the season. I must admit to not looking at them too closely (saw black and white active loaches and assumed all was ok) as I have been very busy these last couple of weeks. In that time, these fish have almost doubled in size. I was alerted to the fact that there might be some unusual specimens by Andy (piggy4) who knows of another store which received these Orchid Botias, so when in at the shop last night photographing other fish for work purposes, I remembered to take a closer look at these. As soon as I looked into the tank, I knew these were not your standard B. histrionica. I've seen this species in juvenile, sub-adult and adult form and the markings have never been this prominent. The base colour is purest white with thick jet black bands. They almost look like they have been coloured in with a thick black marker pen! I've never seen any specimens with such thick jet black bands before and they put me in mind of Martin's 'Czech' B. histrionica. But these are supposedly wild caught. Have a look at the pics, would love to know what everyone thinks - remember these are no bigger than 2"TL. Apologies for water marks etc, I hadn't intended to take pics of this tank . I'll try for some better shots in the photo tank later this week.















Emma

P.S. There are also reports of 2 or more unusual Yo-Yo type loaches doing the rounds at the moment too (not got any of these myself).

[cybermeez]

To me the look very dario-like in their shape, but with better color and striping. What's their temperment like and do you know, roughly, their point of origin in the wild?

[Mark in Vancouver]

What on earth? The image loaded before I could read the text above, Emma. This is a new loach, surely. I think the overall shape looks like Botia dario, but not the head or the placement of the eyes.

This image is not consistent with B. dario at all:



If they're at 2 inches, you would expect them to be coming out of that vague phase where histrionica/kubotai/rostrata/almorhae seem to blend together. They also totally lack the basic gold colour of B. dario - which is present even in very young fish.

Does your supplier have any information about where these were caught?

Very exciting!

[Mark in Vancouver]

Also, look at the markings on the caudal and dorsal fins. These are not consistent with B. dario.

[mikev]

Wow. Very exciting and attractive too...

[Martin Thoene]

Superficially they look like histrionica, but they lack the characteristic Y marking on that stripe at the dorsal. Very striking fish, but their body depth is less proportionately than my Czech fish ever were.
I would hazard a guess that they're a regional variation/geographically separate population of histrionica. The markings on fins and body, though of high contrast are generally what one would expect to see in young hists with the exception of the lack of dorsal Y stripe.

Martin.

[The.Dark.One]

Hi Emma

piggy4 asked me to look at these at a shop because he thought they were something different too. The specimens in the shop were very small, almost as though they had been aquarium bred (hybrids / hormone breeding - I hope not!). The specimens there had some Y and i patterning (only 1 Y on the central bar as in some histrionica) but if yours are the same fish (they had the same common name) then they appear to lose the i patterning.

I asked at the shop if they did truly come from wild fish from Myanmar and they said they werent sure they were truly from Myanmar and they thought they were an almorhae complex species (as I wondered due to the i pattern). However, looking at them at this size they are of the histrionica complex. I would be very interested to find out where in Myanmar they are being caught. Could you find out?

Thanks

[tariesindanrie]

Beautiful pics of some beautiful loaches! I'm curious to know more about their temperament...please keep us posted!

Kate

[Emma Turner]

I will ask the question when my supplier is back from his current fish collecting trip in the jungle of central Borneo. I'm hoping he's going to bring me back some new loaches!

Emma

[helen nightingale]

stunning looking fish

the barbels reminded me of Martin's fish

[piggy4]

Hi Emma , now i am confused , the fish i picked up are of this colouration, BUT three of the bands on mine are Y-ing out ! and they are also getting the I's in between the Ys , now i dont take pics , BUT i will try and sweet talk Mick , the plot thickens !
Emma , i'd say yours were indeed Histrionica's !

[cybermeez]

Also, look at the markings on the caudal and dorsal fins. These are not consistent with B. dario.

Yeah, not Darios. I'm saying just Darioesque.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Wow, very nice. It's going to be interesting to see how these develop.

[Mike Ophir]

Dont want to rain on the parade but lets not get ahead of ourselves here. It is very possible that this could merely be a color variation that exists in almost ever genus and every species. In my personal opinion, after seeing many B. histrionica and B. dario, the fish in Emma's photo look to me to have the characteristic histrionica shape. Furthermore, it appears that the "Y" shape found in histrionica is just begining to form in the juveniles. Keep in mind that these are juveniles. It is not possible to determine the exact identity of these fish because we dont know what the adults look like. Just look at the changes in patterning that occur in B. kubotai!

Hope this helps make more people confused

Mike

[Mike Ophir]

Also to clarify, I believe that Kottelat and others have classified histrionica and almorhae as being members in the same genus and in the same complex as well. The complex is typically referred to as the "Indian subcontinent complex" although this is very broad.

Hope this helps.

Mike