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Loach (fish)
Encyclopedia
Cobitidae is the family
of the true loaches, which are Old World
freshwater
fish
. They occur throughout Eurasia
and in Morocco
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
The body forms of Cobitidae range from vermiform – worm
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
or catfish
es, they have barbel
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
s, insect
s and other small invertebrate
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
and similar benthos
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Cobitis
and especially Misgurnus
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
, chemical pollution
and damming, and are considered threatened species
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Cypriniformes
. Together with the sucker
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Botiinae are the smaller subfamily, with 7 genera generally accepted today. Some of these are quite speciose however.
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
.
Cobitidae is the family
of the true loaches, which are Old World
freshwater
fish
. They occur throughout Eurasia
and in Morocco
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
The body forms of Cobitidae range from vermiform – worm
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
or catfish
es, they have barbel
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
s, insect
s and other small invertebrate
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
and similar benthos
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Cobitis
and especially Misgurnus
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
, chemical pollution
and damming, and are considered threatened species
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Cypriniformes
. Together with the sucker
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Botiinae are the smaller subfamily, with 7 genera generally accepted today. Some of these are quite speciose however.
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
.
Cobitidae is the family
of the true loaches, which are Old World
freshwater
fish
. They occur throughout Eurasia
and in Morocco
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
The body forms of Cobitidae range from vermiform – worm
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
or catfish
es, they have barbel
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
s, insect
s and other small invertebrate
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
and similar benthos
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Cobitis
and especially Misgurnus
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
, chemical pollution
and damming, and are considered threatened species
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Cypriniformes
. Together with the sucker
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Botiinae are the smaller subfamily, with 7 genera generally accepted today. Some of these are quite speciose however.
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
.
n countries such as Japan
. These are of importance in the fisheries or being raised in aquaculture
. Small species may occasionally be caught for bait
.
Many of the more brightly-colored species, in particular Botiinae
, are popular with freshwater
aquarists
and are therefore of importance in the aquarium
trade. The more colorful tropical species that are kept as pets are mainly South Asia
n and Southeast Asia
n Botiinae
. Cobitidae often encountered in aquarium trade include:
Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1
Act 2 has:
This might be a misprint, or an obsolete term for a dovecote
, then as today notorious for "breeding" Ceratophyllus columbae fleas. Or it might indeed refer to the fish: the Spined Loach
(Cobitis taenia), native to England, is very prolific, and the phrase can be taken to imply "...hosts fleas as abundantly as the Spiny Loach spawns".
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of the true loaches, which are Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. They occur throughout Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
Loach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
Description and ecology
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
Spindle (textiles)
A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
or catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
es, they have barbel
Barbel (anatomy)
A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
Spine (zoology)
A spine is a hard, thorny or needle-like structure which occurs on various animals. Animals such as porcupines and sea urchins grow spines as a self-defense mechanism. Spines are often formed of keratin...
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
Pharyngeal teeth
Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species lacking teeth.Popular aquarium fish such as goldfish and loaches have these structures. Members of the Botia genus such as clown loaches are known to make distinctive clicking...
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
Scavenger
Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual scavengers search out dead animal and dead plant biomass on which to feed. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by...
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
Tubifex tubifex
Tubifex tubifex, also called the sludge worm, or sewage worm, is a species of tubificid segmented worm that inhabits the sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents...
and similar benthos
Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
Cobitis
Cobitis
Cobitis is a Palearctic genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It contains the typical spiny loaches, including the well-known Spined Loach of temperate western Eurasia. Containing almost 60 named species as of mid-2008, at least two undescribed ones are also known...
and especially Misgurnus
Misgurnus
Misgurnus is a genus of loaches. Commonly known as weatherfishes or weather loaches, they are commonly eaten in Asia.- Species :* Misgurnus anguillicaudatus * Misgurnus buphoensis R. T. Kim & S. Y...
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
, chemical pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
and damming, and are considered threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
Systematics
The other "loachesLoach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
. Together with the sucker
Catostomidae
Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. There are 80 species in this family of freshwater fishes. Catostomidae are found in North America, east central China, and eastern Siberia...
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
Hillstream loach
The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small Eurasian fish. Many of the species are popular for aquaria. They have a number of similarities with the Cobitidae, their sibling family of "loaches", such as multiple barbels around the mouth...
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
Botiinae
Botiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
.
Cobitidae is the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of the true loaches, which are Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. They occur throughout Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
Loach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
Description and ecology
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
Spindle (textiles)
A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
or catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
es, they have barbel
Barbel (anatomy)
A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
Spine (zoology)
A spine is a hard, thorny or needle-like structure which occurs on various animals. Animals such as porcupines and sea urchins grow spines as a self-defense mechanism. Spines are often formed of keratin...
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
Pharyngeal teeth
Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species lacking teeth.Popular aquarium fish such as goldfish and loaches have these structures. Members of the Botia genus such as clown loaches are known to make distinctive clicking...
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
Scavenger
Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual scavengers search out dead animal and dead plant biomass on which to feed. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by...
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
Tubifex tubifex
Tubifex tubifex, also called the sludge worm, or sewage worm, is a species of tubificid segmented worm that inhabits the sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents...
and similar benthos
Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
Cobitis
Cobitis
Cobitis is a Palearctic genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It contains the typical spiny loaches, including the well-known Spined Loach of temperate western Eurasia. Containing almost 60 named species as of mid-2008, at least two undescribed ones are also known...
and especially Misgurnus
Misgurnus
Misgurnus is a genus of loaches. Commonly known as weatherfishes or weather loaches, they are commonly eaten in Asia.- Species :* Misgurnus anguillicaudatus * Misgurnus buphoensis R. T. Kim & S. Y...
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
, chemical pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
and damming, and are considered threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
Systematics
The other "loachesLoach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
. Together with the sucker
Catostomidae
Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. There are 80 species in this family of freshwater fishes. Catostomidae are found in North America, east central China, and eastern Siberia...
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
Hillstream loach
The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small Eurasian fish. Many of the species are popular for aquaria. They have a number of similarities with the Cobitidae, their sibling family of "loaches", such as multiple barbels around the mouth...
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
Botiinae
Botiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
.
Cobitidae is the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of the true loaches, which are Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. They occur throughout Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches
Loach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" are placed in other families (see below). But more than 100 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
remain in the Cobitidae, while the number of genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
has almost doubled to nearly 30 in the past few years due to new discoveries and divisions of older genera. New species are being described regularly.
Description and ecology
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
-shaped, long and thin – to fusiform – spindle
Spindle (textiles)
A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...
-shaped, cylindrical and tapering toward the ends. Most true loaches do not have true scale
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
s, and like many other Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
or catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
es, they have barbel
Barbel (anatomy)
A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...
s at their mouths (usually 3-6 pairs). Some other traits typically found in this family are a small bottom-facing mouth suited to their scavenging benthic lifestyle, an erectile spine
Spine (zoology)
A spine is a hard, thorny or needle-like structure which occurs on various animals. Animals such as porcupines and sea urchins grow spines as a self-defense mechanism. Spines are often formed of keratin...
below the eye, and a single row of pharyngeal (throat) teeth
Pharyngeal teeth
Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species lacking teeth.Popular aquarium fish such as goldfish and loaches have these structures. Members of the Botia genus such as clown loaches are known to make distinctive clicking...
.
True loaches are mostly scavenger
Scavenger
Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual scavengers search out dead animal and dead plant biomass on which to feed. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by...
s and are omnivorous, usually not very picky about their food. They may eat aquatic crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s as well as scraps of organic detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
. Many live in eutrophic waters of generally poor quality and feed on tubifex worms
Tubifex tubifex
Tubifex tubifex, also called the sludge worm, or sewage worm, is a species of tubificid segmented worm that inhabits the sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents...
and similar benthos
Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
associated with such habitat. Some of these loaches have adapted to low oxygen levels in warm, muddy rivers or dirty ponds by being able to gulp up atmospheric oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
from the air. Some species, particularly from the genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
Cobitis
Cobitis
Cobitis is a Palearctic genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It contains the typical spiny loaches, including the well-known Spined Loach of temperate western Eurasia. Containing almost 60 named species as of mid-2008, at least two undescribed ones are also known...
and especially Misgurnus
Misgurnus
Misgurnus is a genus of loaches. Commonly known as weatherfishes or weather loaches, they are commonly eaten in Asia.- Species :* Misgurnus anguillicaudatus * Misgurnus buphoensis R. T. Kim & S. Y...
are sensitive to changing air pressure. They change their behavior accordingly, and as these changes in activity are usually followed by a change in weather, they are commonly known as "weatherfishes" or "weather loaches".
Because of their scavenging nature and their ability to adapt to many freshwater ecosystems, some Cobitidae have been introduced
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
to foreign lands where they may pose problems to local wildlife as invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
. Other true loaches, many of them migratory fish, have been seriously affected by habitat destruction
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
, chemical pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
and damming, and are considered threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
today. Some migratory species are popular aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
fish and since they are very hard to raise in captivity, overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
has seriously depleted once-common stocks in several cases.
Systematics
The other "loachesLoach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
" used to be included in this family, but nowadays are recognized as well-distinct members of the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Cypriniformes
Cypriniformes
The Cypriniformes are an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches and relatives. This order contains 5-6 families, over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species, with new species being described every few months or so, and new genera being recognized regularly...
. Together with the sucker
Catostomidae
Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. There are 80 species in this family of freshwater fishes. Catostomidae are found in North America, east central China, and eastern Siberia...
s (Catostomidae), the "loaches" made up the superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Cobitoidea. However, the sucking loaches (Gyrinocheilidae) were easily recognizable as relatives of the suckers.
Eventually it was realized that the hillstream loach
Hillstream loach
The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small Eurasian fish. Many of the species are popular for aquaria. They have a number of similarities with the Cobitidae, their sibling family of "loaches", such as multiple barbels around the mouth...
es, though more similar to the true loaches than the other two presumed Cobitoidea, are nonetheless distinct enough to be better regarded a full-blown family Balitoridae. And as it seems the "sucking Cobitoidea" are quite distant indeed, perhaps even markedly closer to the Cyprinidae, and thus the old superfamily Catostomoidea warrants revalidation. Finally, the puzzling mountain carps were most often considered a distinct family Psilorhynchidae in recent times. But in a number of systematic schemes, they were placed in the Balitoridae (or Balitorinae, when these were included in the Cobitidae). In fact, they seem to be loachlike carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
s and belong in the Cyprinidae.
The true loaches can be subdivided into two subfamilies, the typically fusiform Botiinae
Botiinae
Botiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
and the typically vermiform Cobitinae:
The Cobitinae contain the remaining genera, but while a few make up the bulk of the remaining diversity of Cobitidae, many are very small or monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
.
- BotiinaeBotiinaeBotiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
- BotiaBotiaBotia is a genus of freshwater fish in the loach family . It was a large genus with about 20 species. In 2004 Maurice Kottelat proposed in his paper to divide the genus into four related genera based on fish appearance and locality:* Botia for Indian loaches .*...
- Chromobotia
- LeptobotiaLeptobotiaLeptobotia is a genus of ray-finned fish in the Cobitidae family.- Species :* Leptobotia curta * Leptobotia elongata * Leptobotia flavolineata H. Y. Wang, 1981...
- ParabotiaParabotiaParabotia is a genus of loaches that are found in East and Southeast Asia. There are currently 11 described species in this genus.-Species:* Parabotia banarescui * Parabotia bimaculata J. X. Chen, 1980...
- SinibotiaSinibotiaSinibotia is a genus of loaches found in eastern Asia. There are currently five recognized species in this genus.-Species:* Sinibotia longiventralis * Sinibotia pulchra...
- SyncrossusSyncrossusSyncrossus is a genus of Southeast Asian loaches. It contains five species, many of which are popular in the aquarium fish trade.-Species:* Syncrossus beauforti Syncrossus is a genus of Southeast Asian loaches. It contains five species, many of which are popular in the aquarium fish...
- YasuhikotakiaYasuhikotakiaYasuhikotakia is a genus of loaches, many which are popular aquarium fish. It is named in honor of Japanese collector/researcher Dr. Yasuhiko Taki. This genus has been separated from the genus Botia in the paper by Maurice Kottelat in 2004. Some future study might further place Y. sidthimunki and Y...
- Botia
- Cobitinae
- AcanthopsoidesAcanthopsoidesAcanthopsoides is a genus of loach containing seven described species. This genus is only found in Southeast Asia.-Species:* Acanthopsoides delphax Siebert, 1991* Acanthopsoides gracilentus Acanthopsoides is a genus of loach containing seven described species. This genus is only found in...
- AcantopsisAcantopsisAcantopsis is a genus of loaches in the Family Cobitidae. It contains the following seven species:* Acantopsis arenae * Acantopsis choirorhynchos * Acantopsis dialuzona van Hasselt, 1823...
- Bibarba
- Canthophrys
- CobitisCobitisCobitis is a Palearctic genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It contains the typical spiny loaches, including the well-known Spined Loach of temperate western Eurasia. Containing almost 60 named species as of mid-2008, at least two undescribed ones are also known...
- IksookimiaIksookimiaIksookimia is a genus of loach found mostly in the Korean Peninsula. There are currently five described species.-Species:* Iksookimia hugowolfeldi Nalbant, 1993* Iksookimia koreensis...
- Kichulchoia
- KoreocobitisKoreocobitisKoreocobitis is a small genus of loaches containing two species, both of which are endemic to the Korean Peninsula.-Species:* Koreocobitis naktongensis I. S. Kim, J. Y. Park & Nalbant, 2000...
- KottelatlimiaKottelatlimiaKottelatlimia is a genus of loaches containing three species, all of which are found in Southeast Asia.-Species:* Kottelatlimia hipporhynchos Kottelat & H. H. Tan, 2008* Kottelatlimia katik...
- LepidocephalichthysLepidocephalichthysLepidocephalichthys is a genus of ray-finned fish in the Cobitidae family.-Species:* Lepidocephalichthys alkaia Havird & Page, 2010* Lepidocephalichthys annandalei Chaudhuri, 1912...
- LepidocephalusLepidocephalusLepidocephalus is a genus of loaches containing three Asian species.-Species:* Lepidocephalus coromandelensis Menon, 1992* Lepidocephalus macrochir * Lepidocephalus spectrum T. R. Roberts, 1989...
- Microcobitis
- MisgurnusMisgurnusMisgurnus is a genus of loaches. Commonly known as weatherfishes or weather loaches, they are commonly eaten in Asia.- Species :* Misgurnus anguillicaudatus * Misgurnus buphoensis R. T. Kim & S. Y...
– weatherfishes, weather loaches - Neoeucirrhichthys – Goalpara Loach
- NiwaellaNiwaellaNiwaella is a small genus of loaches.- Species :* Niwaella delicata * Niwaella laterimaculata * Niwaella longibarba Y. F. Chen & Y. X. Chen, 2005...
- PangioPangioPangio is a genus of about 25 species of freshwater fish in the loach family . In earlier taxonomic schemes it was known as Acanthophthalmus. It is most well known for the kuhlii loach, Pangio kuhlii, which is often kept by aquarists....
(formerly Acanthophthalmus) – kuhli loaches - ParalepidocephalusParalepidocephalusParalepidocephalus is a genus of loach with only two recognized species, both of which are endemic to Yunnan, China.-Species:* Paralepidocephalus guishanensis W. X. Li, 2004* Paralepidocephalus yui T. L. Tchang, 1935...
- Paramisgurnus
- ProtocobitisProtocobitisProtocobitis is a genus of ray-finned fish in the Cobitidae family.- Species :* Protocobitis polylepis Y. Zhu, Y. J. Lu, J. X. Yang & S. Zhang, 2008* Protocobitis typhlops J. X. Yang, Y. R. Chen & J. H. Lan, 1993...
- SabanejewiaSabanejewiaSabanejewia is a genus of 8 species of ray-finned fish in the Cobitidae family. It contains spiny loaches which, for the most part, used to be included in Cobitis.- Species :* Sabanejewia aurata...
- SerpenticobitisSerpenticobitisSerpenticobitis is a small genus of loaches found in Laos and Thailand. It currently consists of three described species.-Species:* Serpenticobitis cingulata T. R. Roberts, 1997* Serpenticobitis octozona T. R. Roberts, 1997...
- Acanthopsoides
Use by humans
Some true loaches are popular as food fish in East AsiaEast Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n countries such as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. These are of importance in the fisheries or being raised in aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
. Small species may occasionally be caught for bait
Bait (luring substance)
Bait is any substance used to attract prey, e.g. in a mousetrap.-In Australia:Baiting in Australia refers to specific campaigns to control foxes, wild dogs and dingos by poisoning in areas where they are a problem...
.
As aquarium fish
Botiinae
Botiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
, are popular with freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
aquarists
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
and are therefore of importance in the aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
trade. The more colorful tropical species that are kept as pets are mainly South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n Botiinae
Botiinae
Botiinae is the mainly Southeast Asian subfamily of cypriniform ray-finned fishes that contains the genus Botia. Placed in the true loach family Cobitidae in our time, they were formerly often treated as a distinct cobitoid family Botiidae....
. Cobitidae often encountered in aquarium trade include:
- Clown LoachClown loachThe clown loach, Chromobotia macracanthus, is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Cobitidae family. It is the sole member of the Chromobotia genus. It originates in inland waters in Indonesia on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo...
, Chromobotia macracanthus - Dojo Loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus
- Horseface LoachHorseface LoachThe horseface loach or horsehead loach, Acantopsis choirorhynchos, is a freshwater and brackish fish in the loach family . This bottom-dwelling fish is native to the swift, clear streams and rivers of mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia through the Chao Phraya and...
, Acantopsis choirorhynchus - Skunk Loach, Yasuhikotakia morleti
- Kuhli LoachKuhli LoachThe Kuhli Loach is a small eel-like freshwater fish belonging to the loach family . It originates in Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula. This snake-like creature is very slender and nocturnal...
, Pangio kuhlii - Yoyo LoachYoyo LoachA yoyo loach, almora loach or Pakistani loach, Botia almorhae, is a freshwater fish belonging to the loach family . It originates in the slow-running and still waters of India and Pakistan, whence the name Pakistani loach originates. It is commonly found in aquariums, but is not nearly as common as...
, Botia almorhae - Zebra Loach, Botia striata
- Bengal LoachBotia darioThe Bengal Loach, or Queen Loach is a species of loach fish found in the hill streams of Bangladesh.These fish are threatened by pesticide used in the cultivation of rice...
, Botia dario - Burmese Border loach, Botia kubotai
Cultural references
Loaches of some sort have been present in several video games:- In the Nintendo 64Nintendo 64The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TimeThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
, the largest fish you can catch is the "HylianHyruleThe fictional universe depicted in The Legend of Zelda series of video games consists of a variety of lands, the most commonly appearing of these being , and was created by Japanese video game developer Shigeru Miyamoto.-Hyrule:...
loach". Every time you enter the fishing pond as an adult in Ocarina of Time, there is a 1 in 4 (25 pc) chance this fish will be present in the pond. It has a long low dorsal finDorsal finA dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
unlike Cobitidae and looks much like a mix between a MisgurnusMisgurnusMisgurnus is a genus of loaches. Commonly known as weatherfishes or weather loaches, they are commonly eaten in Asia.- Species :* Misgurnus anguillicaudatus * Misgurnus buphoensis R. T. Kim & S. Y...
true loach and the Northern SnakeheadNorthern snakeheadThe Northern snakehead is a type of snakehead fish native to China, Russia, North Korea and South Korea. In the United States, the fish is considered to be a highly invasive species...
(Channa argus) which is not a loach; both these fishes are quite familiar across East AsiaEast AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
. - The Hylian loach is also present in the fishing minigame in Nintendo GamecubeNintendo GameCubeThe , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
/WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princessis an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii video game consoles. It is the thirteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series...
. - Loaches also appear in the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
game Animal Crossing: Wild WorldAnimal Crossing: Wild Worldis a 2005 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, and is the second game in the Animal Crossing series....
and its WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
sequel, Animal Crossing: City Folk. They are small fish found in rivers from March to May. Not rare, one specimen sells for a mere 300 bells (as much as a black bassBlack bassMicropterus , is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is M. dolomieu, the smallmouth bass...
); thus it is apparently not – as the player character wonders when catching one – a Hylian loach. The icon, though very restricted in resolution, is a correct depiction of a Cobitinae loach with a color pattern resembling some East Asian species of CobitisCobitisCobitis is a Palearctic genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cobitidae. It contains the typical spiny loaches, including the well-known Spined Loach of temperate western Eurasia. Containing almost 60 named species as of mid-2008, at least two undescribed ones are also known...
.
Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
Act 2 has:
"Why, they will allow us ne'er a jordan, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleaFleaFlea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
s like a loach."
This might be a misprint, or an obsolete term for a dovecote
Dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...
, then as today notorious for "breeding" Ceratophyllus columbae fleas. Or it might indeed refer to the fish: the Spined Loach
Spined Loach
The Spined Loach is a common freshwater fish in Europe and Asia. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus Misgurnus...
(Cobitis taenia), native to England, is very prolific, and the phrase can be taken to imply "...hosts fleas as abundantly as the Spiny Loach spawns".
External links
- FishBase treatment of the family
- Loaches on The Aquarium Wiki Category of common freshwater Loaches kept in aquariums
- Loaches Online - site with comprehensive information & discussions on keeping these fish in aquaria
