"kuhli Loach"

[starrynightxxi]

hoping for some ID on the loach i bought today if possible.

I don't know if i'm supposed to count the stripe that is on the caudal fin or not, but without that, i count 12 stripes, and two of the back ones look as though they might encircle the whole body, which, according to Loaches Online (i think it was) is close to Acanthophthalmus semicinctus, but I can't really find any info on them

Also, I know they like to be in groups, and intend to get a few more (this was the only one at the store today), but i'm wondering, will all kuhli and "false kuhli" loaches be agreeable with one another, or do i have to match them up specifically?

 

[Captain Retardo]

I'm pretty sure that Kuhli Loaches don't care if they are with other, similar species of themselves

 

[Teelie]

I have several species/subspecies co-habitating together and they do fine so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[wendywc]

Great picture!

 

[The-Wolf]

looks like a A. myersi to me.
as others have said, kuhlies don't realy care
what species they are as long as they are kuhlies.

 

[mikev]

looks like a A. myersi to me.

No, this is the most classical P. Semicincta, not Pangio Myersi ("Regular" Kuhli rather than "Giant" Kuhli).

Not that it makes a lot of difference.

For comparison, here is a classical Myersi:

 

[daspricey]

i agree mikev.
not Pangio Myersi IMO.
great pic though, both of u!

david 8)

 

[starrynightxxi]

thanks! i figured they'd all be fine together, but i'd hate to have to go searching for a particular subspecies. Also nice to know that I got my identification right. go me

oh, and another question, on the (hopefully off) chance that I ever need to medicate it, or the tank, are they sensitive to meds like catfish?

 

[Teelie]

Like most loaches, they're scaleless so yeah, take it easy with certain medications. In general though, what's safe for a catfish is usually safe for Loaches too.

 

[mikev]

thanks! i figured they'd all be fine together, but i'd hate to have to go searching for a particular subspecies. Also nice to know that I got my identification right. go me

oh, and another question, on the (hopefully off) chance that I ever need to medicate it, or the tank, are they sensitive to meds like catfish?

Chances are that you would not have to do it; when kept in a good tank, they are very unlikely to develop a disease.

In general: half-dose meds that are "general poisons" (malachite green, meth. blue, formaline....) -- these are usually ich-meds. Kuhlis don't normally get ich, but their tankmates might. Also: no melafix/pumafix, these are bad for loaches and *may* kill kuhlis.


APPEND: Acanthophthalmus semicinctus is an outdated name, no longer to use, it is Pangio now. But yes, you got the ID right!

 

[OohFeeshy]

I wouldn't say that's a seminctus, from my understanding and observations, seminctus has mainly bars with yellow spots in the middle. Myers, on the other hand, seem to be either vary varied or mis ID'd, the ones mikev posted are very rarely seen in the trade from what I've seen whereas individuals that look like the one the OP has are common.

 

[starrynightxxi]

well... from a non-thorough google search, there seems to be a seminctus, which does have spots on the bars (the only picture was small, but shows that clearly), and a semiCInctus, which looks like mine.

seminctus


semicinctus
the page that had the "semicinctus" pictures seems to be no longer in existence.


like i said, it wasn't thorough, but this is what i've got so far...

 

[mikev]

I wouldn't say that's a seminctus, from my understanding and observations, seminctus has mainly bars with yellow spots in the middle.....

The way it is defined right now is essentially this:

Myersi means == regular bars, bars go deep down, orange tint, large sizee.
Semicincta == everything else.

This is mildly idiotic, imho, since this makes Semicincta a collection of very differently looking loaches. In fact, there is a paper that links different Semicincta patterns to different locales; there is NO PROOF that this is one species and not many. Some of the patterns I've seen are indicative of more sub- (or even not sub-) species.

However, this is the definition in effect now.

"Yellow Spots" occur in both species and are not indicative of anything. I had a kuhli that started "spotless" and developed such spots later in life.

hth