Dwarf loach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iDwarf loach | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki (Klausewitz, 1959) |
The dwarf loach, ladderback loach, pygmy loach, chain loach or chain botia,[1] Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki (formerly Botia sidthimunki), is a popular freshwater tropical fish in aquariums belonging to the Cobitidae family.
Contents |
[edit] Size and habitat
It grows up 5 in in the wild.[2] It prefers water with temperature 77 to 86 ° F (25 - 30 ° C), pH 6.5 to 6.9 dGH to 8.0. It is omnivorous, with a diet including live crustaceans, insects, snails, etc.
The dwarf loach is found in the Mae Klong River and the River Kwai in western Thailand. This species is endangered and is a protected species in Thailand. It was thought to be extinct in the wild until recently rediscovered in Sangkhla Buri. While they disappeared from the wild, it remained in the aquarium trade because of artificial breeding by private fish farms for over 3 decades. However, they grow rather small to about 2 to 3 inches.
The fish was discovered by Somphong Lekaree (สมพงษ์ เล็กอารีย์) and Damri Sukaram (ดำริ สุขอร่าม) in 1959. Lekaree was an aquarium fish exporter while Sukaram was a fisherman for aquarium trade. The binomial name of this fish is in honor of Aree Sidthimunk (Thai: อารีย์ สิทธิมังค์), a notable researcher at Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, a person respected by Somphong Lekaree.
[edit] Related species
The dwarf loach closely resembles Yasuhikotakia nigrolineata, another Thai protected species. Juveniles of Y. sidthimunki have dotted patterns while Y. nigrolineata have horizon line on them. Furthermore the chain pattern of Y. sidthimunki develops in fish at a smaller size.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2004 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2004.
- Botia sidthimunki (TSN 640126). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 8 July 2005.
- Kittipong Jaruthanin (story) and Kamphol Udomritthiruj (photo), ตามรอย... "หมูอารีย์" สัตว์สงวนแห่งสยาม (Following the trail of... "Dwarf Loach" protected fauna of Siam), Fish Zone, Vol. 3 Issue 24 (15 May - 15 June 2002)
- Botia sidthimunkis vs Botia cf. nigrolineatas
- ^ http://home.ptd.net/~jdietsch/bname.html
- ^ http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_sidthimunki.html
