Botiidae
| Botiidae | |
|---|---|
| File:Syncrossus berdmorei.jpg | |
| Tiger loach Syncrossus berdmorei | |
| File:Botia striata.jpg | |
| Zebra loach (Botia striata) with the fusiform shape typical of Botiidae | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Superfamily: | Cobitoidei |
| Family: | Botiidae L. S. Berg, 1940[1] |
| Genera | |
|
see text | |
Botiidae, the pointface loaches, 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.[2] 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)[3] (Chromobotia macracanthus has been claimed to reach a similar size, but this would be exceptional).[4]
Genera
[edit | edit source]Botiidae contains the following genera:[5]
- Yasuhikotakia Syncrossus
- Leptobotia Ambastaia
- Kottelat, 2012 Gray, 1831
- Bleeker, 1870 Nalbant, 2002
- Parabotia Chromobotia
- Guichenot, 1872 Blyth, 1860
- Botia Kottelat, 2004
- P.-W. Fang, 1936 Sinibotia
As aquarium fish
[edit | edit source]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
- Red-finned loach, Yasuhikotakia modesta
- Dwarf loach, Ambastaia sidthimunki
- Skunk loach, Yasuhikotakia morleti
- Yoyo loach, Botia almorhae
- Zebra loach, B. striata
- Bengal loach, B. dario
- Burmese border loach, B. kubotai
References
[edit | edit source]- 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
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- ^ Kottelat, M. (2012): Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). Archived February 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 26: 1-199.
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