ArtemisCai Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 I got a better look at my new mystery loach in the quarantine tank and I think it is possibly Gastromyzon ctenocephalus. It matches the description and photos on this site https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-ctenocephalus I may be way off because I'm a Noob Nerm, but all signs seem to be pointing to this being the one. Any thoughts? Story of how I got him/her is in my other post : https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/15305-frustrating-experience-ordering-fish-online/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-126781 He is really small slightly over an inch, so I am guessing he is young. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 It does look similar to gastromyzon ctenocephalus to get a definite I'd you might have to wait till he's a bit bigger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 I'm pretty sure after getting a better picture of him this evening that he is Gastromyzon ctenocephalus. He fits the description to a T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 We have named him Roomba to go along with our vacuum theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 We have Hoover, Kirby, Dyson, Eureka, Shark and now Roomba. My granddaughters have named all of my Shimp, "Shrimpy" and all of the snails "Snaily". 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 I think he might look more like gastromyzon stellatus personally. They are very similar but if you look at pictures on seriously fish and loaches.com the pattern on the caudal and dorsal fin looks more like stellatus than ctenocephalus to me. Apparently the pattern/dots on the skin on stellatus vary between individuals quite a bit as well. I suspect they are wild caught on mass as a lot of species live alongside each other and then they are sold as generic hillstream loaches or Borneo suckers or whatever and probably aren't even separated let alone labelled as individual species so it's hard to know for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 I was making my assumption off of the information on loaches.com https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-ctenocephalus I do see what you are saying. Especially about his dorsal fin. I was just thinking that maybe because he is still so young, the color has not shown up on his dorsal fin yet. Is that possible? I'm a noob, what do I know. lol It was particularly this section where it mentions the tail markings: "The dorsal fin has bold pale blue markings, and the caudal fin has bold horizontal pale blue stripes with black lines between them. The caudal pattern in G. scitulus has vertical breaks in the horizontal pattern, and the dorsal is normally lacking any blue spotting." Roomba's tail looks a lot like the picture and the description of Gastromyzon ctenocephalus. His tail has solid lines, without breaks. Also, you can't really tell from the photos, but in the tank they look pale blue. Is it possible he could be a half breed? Does that even happen? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 I'm probably just going to have to wait until he is bigger like @Colu said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 On 8/22/2021 at 10:56 AM, ArtemisCai said: I was making my assumption off of the information on loaches.com https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-ctenocephalus I do see what you are saying. Especially about his dorsal fin. I was just thinking that maybe because he is still so young, the color has not shown up on his dorsal fin yet. Is that possible? I'm a noob, what do I know. lol It was particularly this section where it mentions the tail markings: "The dorsal fin has bold pale blue markings, and the caudal fin has bold horizontal pale blue stripes with black lines between them. The caudal pattern in G. scitulus has vertical breaks in the horizontal pattern, and the dorsal is normally lacking any blue spotting." Roomba's tail looks a lot like the picture and the description of Gastromyzon ctenocephalus. His tail has solid lines, without breaks. Also, you can't really tell from the photos, but in the tank they look pale blue. Is it possible he could be a half breed? Does that even happen? No idea noob too! I was just looking at pictures, do they have a description for stellatus as well? He looks like he has the caudal fin of the ctenocephalus but the dorsal of scitulus lol but the stellatus seems to be that way from the pics so that's why that's my guess. Like you say probably be easier when fully grown! Also I think they are generally different sizes when fully grown so that might help 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemisCai Posted August 24, 2021 Author Share Posted August 24, 2021 On 8/22/2021 at 6:05 AM, KentFishFanUK said: No idea noob too! I was just looking at pictures, do they have a description for stellatus as well? https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-scitulus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 On 8/24/2021 at 2:58 AM, ArtemisCai said: https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-scitulus Thanks but I actually meant this one: https://www.loaches.com/species-index/gastromyzon-stellatus It doesn't seem to have as much info on them compared with the other ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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