Albino Loach or Something Else?

[mikev]

Is he? (the bottom one)

Ought to be an albino..but: he was the smallest loach in the batch of 100 (the other 99 were "normal" khulis). The eyes are black.

 

[The-Wolf]

If it has red eyes then it is an albino if it has black eyes it is called hypo-melanistic.
http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/pangi...rsi_albino.html

I'd like to now say that I'm officially jelouse

 

[Opcn]

Oh, I'm so jelous that I hate you. Those have some really nice color too, wonder what they have been fed.

 

[mikev]

Is it something not common?

I'm not fully sure yet it is a khuli: it does have the right number of (missing) strips, but it is smaller and visibly more outgoing than the others.

(Maybe younger khulis generally are -- I don't know)

Those have some really nice color too, wonder what they have been fed.

Sorry, what do you mean by this? From LFS I understood that it was caught in the wild recently and nobody noticed that he was in the shipment. Do they need some special diet or perhaps kept away from the sunlight?

 

[emma12321]

i want one

 

[mikev]

I want one more too...

Here are better views:

(The green dots are algae on the glass, not on loach)

 

[CatLover]

It's definitely a khuli, and I don't think it's albino.
Just a light colored loach. Very cute nonetheless.

 

[Synirr]

Yep, most definitely a khuli. This colour variety is often refered to as lutino, though I can't say I've ever seen a lutino khuli before. Very cool

 

[mikev]

Thanks for all your comments!

After watching for a while (now he is hanging around rather bravely) it is obvious that he does not have any pigmentation in the skin (the photos may give you a wrong impression). The correct classification is probably amelanistic; he is very similar to the one on the Wolf's link, but hypomelanistic is a wrong term --- it would apply to a fish or an animal that has melanin pigmentation on the body, and Albert (his name) does not. Black cornea makes him non-albino.

Now, $1M question: how do we breed him? I want a few more, he is really fun to watch. Anyone here who has some experience and is willing to help? (this is one way to make sure there will be a few around!)

My feeling is that breeding khulis should be possible if one really wants to do it; and if he can be bred at all, an amelanistic line can be created in the 2nd generation (it is usually a recessive gene). Of course, right now I don't even know if Albert is a "he", and he is possibly too small for breeding...(about 2in only), and just how much work will this take (the good news is that khulis are small...)

Suggestions are welcome.

 

[kevin007]

That is an lutino kuhli, they have one at loaches online, check it out for pics, looks just like that one, good find

 

[mikev]

Is this a Khuli at all??? Shape on your pic seems to be quite different.

our fellow is similar enough to those on the Wolf's link
http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/pangi...rsi_albino.html

Colors are slightly wrong, but this is probably only because of computer imaging (on the picture I uploaded colors are slightly wrong too, comparing to the original)

 

[Gix]

Your fish is definitely a kuhli mikev. If it's a little differently shaped from the others, it's just due to natural variation of individuals within the species.

 

[LoachLover]

Since your question was already answered I'll just say, that fish is awesome, wish I could get my hands on one.

 

[Gill]

That is Awesome.

Lovely Vivid Colors on those Kuhlis.

 

[Ben]

Very nice

DD