Botiidae
| Botiidae | |
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| Tiger loach Syncrossus berdmorei | |
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| Zebra loach (Botia striata) with the fusiform shape typical of Botiidae | |
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| Family: | Botiidae L. S. Berg, 1940
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Botiidae is a family of cypriniform ray-finned fishes from South, Southeast, and East Asia. Until recently they were placed in the true loach family Cobitidae, until Maurice Kottelat revised the loaches and re-elevated this taxon to family rank in 2012.[1] The family includes about 56 species.
The Botiids are more robust than most of their relatives in Cobitidae and tend to have a more or less arched back, yielding an altogether more fusiform shape. Botiids typically have a pointed snout of intermediate length, while many cobitids are remarkably stub-nosed.
Botiids are generally fairly small, with maximum lengths between 6 and 30 cm (2.4 and 11.8 in) depending on the species involved, although Leptobotia elongata reaches 50 cm (20 in)[2] (Chromobotia macracanthus has been claimed to reach a similar size, but this would be exceptional).[3]
As aquarium fish
Many of the more brightly colored species are popular with freshwater aquarists, so are of importance in the aquarium trade. Botiidae often encountered in aquarium trade include:
- Clown loach, Chromobotia macracanthus
- Yasuhikotakia modesta
- Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki
- Skunk loach, Yasuhikotakia morleti
- Yoyo loach, Botia almorhae
- Zebra loach, B. striata
- Bengal loach, B. dario
- Burmese border loach, B. kubotai
References
- Kottelat, M. (2004): Botia kubotai, a new species of loach (Teleostei: Cobitidae) from the Ataran River basin (Myanmar), with comments on botiine nomenclature and diagnosis of a new genus. Zootaxa 401: 1-18. PDF abstract and first page image
- Tang, Qiong-ying; Yu, Dan & Liu, Huan-zhang (2008): 斑纹薄鳅 (Leptobotia zebra) 应该为斑纹沙鳅 (Sinibotia zebra) ["Leptobotia zebra Should Be Revised as Sinibotia zebra (Cypriniformes-Botiidae)"]. Zoological Research 29(1): 1-9 [Chinese with English abstract]. PDF fulltext
- ^ a b Kottelat, M. (2012): Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 26: 1-199.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Leptobotia elongata". FishBase. June 2014 version.
- ^ Åhlander, Ola (2 September 2004). "Clown loach Chromobotia macracanthus (Bleeker 1852)". www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
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