Botia (Indian loaches) is a genus of freshwater fish in the loachfamily (Botiidae). It was a large genus with about 20 species. In 2004 Maurice Kottelat proposed in his paper (along with the description of Botia kubotai, see References below) to divide the genus into four related genera based on fish appearance and locality:
Another genus, Parabotia, was considered a separate genus earlier. It has an elongated body quite similar to Syncrossus, but with its range mostly restricted to China. With all these as separate genera, Botia species are restricted to South Asia (including Burma).
The fish in these genera possess a pair of razor-sharp spines under their eye sockets. These spines normally lie flat, but may be extended when the loach feels threatened. This behavior is rarely observed when the fish is swimming, but care must be taken when catching botia in fishnets — the projecting spines may become entangled, causing injury to the fish and/or damage to the net. Care must also be taken when transporting the larger botia, as their subocular spines may puncture the enclosing polyethylene bags that are normally used for this purpose.
One special characteristic of this loach group is the ability to produce a loud "clicking" noise, which is commonly heard during feeding time. This noise stems from a special type of pharyngeal teeth that are used to extract snails from their shells. For aquarists, this gives the botia a practical application, as they can be used to fight a snail infestation.
Another peculiarity of botia is that they are often seen resting on their side or in other strange positions. While this can be normal, healthy behaviour for botia, it is rarely observed in other types of fish. The unusual habit often causes needless panic for the inexperienced aquarist, who mistakenly assumes their fish is ill.
Speciesedit
There are currently nine recognized species in this genus:[1]
Turner, Emma. 2007. "An Introduction To Keeping Botia" Loaches Online[1]
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.
Ophir, M. 2009. "Keeping Loaches in Home Aquaria: General Tips and Recommendations". www.loachworld.com
^Kottelat, M. (2012): Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). February 11, 2013, at the Wayback MachineThe Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Suppl. No. 26: 1-199.
January 01, 1970
botia, indian, loaches, genus, freshwater, fish, loach, family, botiidae, large, genus, with, about, species, 2004, maurice, kottelat, proposed, paper, along, with, description, kubotai, references, below, divide, genus, into, four, related, genera, based, fis. Botia Indian loaches is a genus of freshwater fish in the loach family Botiidae It was a large genus with about 20 species In 2004 Maurice Kottelat proposed in his paper along with the description of Botia kubotai see References below to divide the genus into four related genera based on fish appearance and locality Botia for Indian loaches shorter body Chromobotia for clown loach Syncrossus for tiger loaches elongated body Yasuhikotakia for Mekong loaches shorter body Botia Botia striata Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Actinopterygii Order Cypriniformes Family Botiidae Genus BotiaJ E Gray 1831 Type species Botia almorhaeGray 1831 Species See text Synonyms Hymenphysa Another genus Parabotia was considered a separate genus earlier It has an elongated body quite similar to Syncrossus but with its range mostly restricted to China With all these as separate genera Botia species are restricted to South Asia including Burma The fish in these genera possess a pair of razor sharp spines under their eye sockets These spines normally lie flat but may be extended when the loach feels threatened This behavior is rarely observed when the fish is swimming but care must be taken when catching botia in fishnets the projecting spines may become entangled causing injury to the fish and or damage to the net Care must also be taken when transporting the larger botia as their subocular spines may puncture the enclosing polyethylene bags that are normally used for this purpose One special characteristic of this loach group is the ability to produce a loud clicking noise which is commonly heard during feeding time This noise stems from a special type of pharyngeal teeth that are used to extract snails from their shells For aquarists this gives the botia a practical application as they can be used to fight a snail infestation Another peculiarity of botia is that they are often seen resting on their side or in other strange positions While this can be normal healthy behaviour for botia it is rarely observed in other types of fish The unusual habit often causes needless panic for the inexperienced aquarist who mistakenly assumes their fish is ill Species editThere are currently nine recognized species in this genus 1 Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution nbsp Botia almorhae J E Gray 1831 Almorha loach Yo yo loach Pakistani loach Ganges basin in northern India and possibly Nepal Botia birdi B L Chaudhuri 1909 Birdi loach India and Pakistan nbsp Botia dario F Hamilton 1822 Bengal loach Queen loach the Brahmaputra and Ganges basins in Bangladesh Bhutan and north India nbsp Botia histrionica Blyth 1860 Golden zebra loach India and Myanmar Found in Salween basin nbsp Botia kubotai Kottelat 2004 Burmese Border loach Myanmar Botia lohachata B L Chaudhuri 1912 Reticulate loach Pakistan India Bangladesh and Nepal Botia rostrata Gunther 1868 Gangetic loach Sergeant major loach Bangladesh and north India nbsp Botia striata Narayan Rao 1920 Zebra loach Western Ghats of India nbsp Botia udomritthiruji H H Ng 2007 Emperor loach south Burma References edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Botia Turner Emma 2007 An Introduction To Keeping Botia Loaches Online 1 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 Botia ITIS Standard Report Integrated Taxonomic Information System National Museum of Natural History Washington D C 2004 10 11 ITIS 638919 Ophir M 2009 Keeping Loaches in Home Aquaria General Tips and Recommendations www loachworld com 2 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 Suppl No 26 1 199 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Botia amp oldid 1215103480, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
