Siamese loach
| Siamese loach | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Siamese loach ( Gyrinocheilus aymonieri ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Gyrinocheilus aymonieri | ||||||||||||
| ( Tirant , 1884) |
The Siamese loach ( Gyrinocheilus aymonieri ) is a Southeast Asian freshwater fish belonging to the suckling loach family . It occurs in Thailand on the northern Malay Peninsula ( Trang Province , Tapi ), in the Mae Klong Basin and in the catchment areas of the Mekong and Mae Nam Chao Phraya ( Chao Phraya River ).
features
It reaches a maximum length of 27 to 29 cm, but usually remains smaller. The body is elongated and hardly flattened at the sides. The basic color of younger fish is gray-brown to olive-brown with a band of darker, interconnected spots on the sides. Older fish turn darker, sometimes almost black. The characteristic feature of the species and the genus is the sucking mouth, which is formed from the thick lips. Barbels are absent. Since the mouth, sucked in on stones, is not available to take in respiratory water, this is taken in through a small, separated opening in the upper part of the gill cleft. The respiratory water is expelled again in the lower part of the cleft gill.
- Fin formula : dorsal 3–4 / 9–10, anal 3–4 / 4–5, pectoral 1 / 10–11 / 1, ventral 1/7/1.
- Scale formula : mLR (37) 39–41, SL 36–40.
Way of life
The Siamese loach is territorial and aggressive towards other species. Young fish feed on algae, which they scrape off stones, wood and plants. Adult fish are omnivores.
In their homeland it is also used as a food fish, in industrialized countries it is kept as an aquarium fish. Often an albinotic color variant is traded under the name lemon loach .
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
- Axel Zarske: Gyrinocheilus aymonieri (Tirant, 1884). In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. 2 volumes. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , Volume 1, p. 434.
Web links
- Siamese loach on Fishbase.org (English)
- www.world-of-animals.de
- Gyrinocheilus aymonieri inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: Vidthayanon, C., 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2014.