Its Not A Sae Is It?

[Justin.Accurate]

I bought this fish today thinking it was a siamese flying fox variation

He was in a tank of normal Flying Foxes but swam and looked nothing like them

In the next tank was a classic Siamese Flying Fox and at the time I thought he was just one of those with different markings

As the shop was closing next week and everything was half price I took a chance on him

He has a slight red tinge to his pectoral and tail fins, and swims as if he's really heavy, close to the bottom, often resting on his pectorals on various objects

Apologies for the pic quality, he likes to hide and doesnt like the camera. Ignore the monster Clown Syno behind him

 

[RedRobin]

Hi Justin.Accurate
It's hard to tell from your pic but true Siamese Algae Eaters have a black line that runs right along their body and into their tail. There is a 'false' SAE (sorry I don't know its proper name!) with a black line that stops at the edge of its body and doesn't go into its tail. Maybe that's what you have. Hope this helps.

 

[Behold]

I was told true SAE's have clear fins but mine have the line in to the tail but a yellow hint on there fins now they have grown up. Oh and they ate my black brush algae and apparently fake ones dont touch it...

 

[nosoup4you]

It looks like a Flying Fox to me...

 

[Corleone]

Off my cheat sheet:

True SAE: zig-zag edged stripe, black edged dorsal scales, the stripe extends into the tail but is clear
False SAE: straight edged stripe, stripe stops at the tail, yellow fins, small non-clinging suckermouth
Flying fox: straight edged stripe, stripe extends into the tail and is opaque on the tail, dark coloration and white tips on fins.
CAE: uneven/broken stripe, large clinging suckermouth, no barbels

It has the fins and stripe (I think, hard to see the edge of it, but this is the easiest identifying mark for the true SAE) to match a false SAE.

 

[fishyfeet]

heres the best way to sort them out,

[URL="http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/"]http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/[/URL]

personnaly i think its a chinese algae eater

 

[Davo86]

personnaly i think its a chinese algae eater

def not, I'd say its a False SAE

 

[Corleone]

I agree, definitely not a CAE.

The site fishyfeet linked is an abridged version of my cheat sheet: http/www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html

The information is identical, however, this version includes a chart down near the bottom that gives very specific features to use as identification (Stripe, dorsal area, barbels, mouth).

 

[Justin.Accurate]

Turned out to be a flying fox, having looked at some pics of larger ones, but I found it dead the next morning anyway. Its eye is already showing signs of whiteness in that pic, and it was starting to get a bit red around the mouth. Dont know what killed it but It was half eaten by the morning, poor thing

 

[The-Wolf]

you are all wrong.
it is a Garra cambodgiensis Stonelapping minnow

EDIT
a sexualy mature male too (pink lips give it away)

 

[Justin.Accurate]

Wow yes i think he was...

Thanks very much for the ID - I did still think it was weird how he swam nothing like a flying fox, I thought the red round his mouth was a sign he was in trouble

Bet I never see another for sale

 

[Corleone]

you are all wrong.
it is a Garra cambodgiensis Stonelapping minnow

EDIT
a sexualy mature male too (pink lips give it away)

Interesting - looking them up, definitely a better match than FSAE or flying fox. Are the pink lips a mark of the species, or just a mature male? Any particular identifying features? I'd like to add this species to my SAE cheat sheet.

 

[The-Wolf]

in the six i had (4 currently) only males show the pink lips.
the females have a very slight tinge of pink on the caudial fins.
it is almost impossible to notice on any photo I've taken but maybe a top of the line camera would pick it up
there is also a ghosting of yellow on the dorsal fin of both males and females, again my camera has never picked this out.

as for keeping these. they are very hardy but prefer a tank with a fast flow. remember they come from mountain streams
and need a lot of O2, good aeration/agitation is essential.
HTH