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Jules18

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Hi thanks for add i have a quick question I think I have a YoYo Loch( pictured) i,am wondering which fish are comparable looking into discuss at moment and v also if indeed it is a Yoyo Loach
 

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Hi thanks for add i have a quick question I think I have a YoYo Loch( pictured) i,am wondering which fish are comparable looking into discuss at moment and v also if indeed it is a Yoyo Loach

That is a loach, in the Botia genus, in which there are several very similarly-patterned species. And to make it more confusing, their patterns often change as they mature. This photo appears to be of a fairly young loach.

I suggest this is a Yo Yo Loach--probably. This commonly-available loach may be seen under several common names including Reticulated loach, Lohachata Botia, Pakistani Loach, Almorha Loach and Yo Yo Loach probably being the most common. The latter, coined by Ken Childs of Dolphin International fish importers in Los Angeles, comes from the pattern on the fish's side resembling a series of brown "Y" and white "O" markings which is more discernible in young fish.

The exact species name of this fish is still somewhat uncertain. Originally it was deemed to be Botia lohachata, the name assigned by B.L. Chaudhuri in 1912, and it is still widely seen under this name. [Botia is derived from an Asian word for soldier or warrior.] In the early 1990's it was suggested that this species epithet was a synonym for Botia almorhae, the true species, which had been described in 1831 by J.E. Gray. Dr. Maurice Kottelat (2004), an acknowledged authority on this family, assigned the name B. lohachata as a synonym of B. almorhae and not a distinct species in his major revision of the genus which he separated into seven genera, but more recently Kottelat (2012) along with numerous other ichthyologists accepts the species as distinct.

Steven Grant (2007) has proposed that B. almorhae may in fact consist of five distinct but closely-related species:
Botia almorhae Gray, 1831
Botia birdi Chaudhuri, 1909
Botia lohachata Chaudhuri 1912
Botia sp. "Kosi", possibly a variant of B. almorhae
Botia
sp. "Teesta", possibly a variant of B. almorhae

The striking similarity in pattern among these fish certainly makes this feasible; the California Academy of Sciences--Ichthyology has accepted the validity of the first three distinct species. The authors of Loaches Online accept B. almorhae as the species of the true Yo Yo Loach, though that does not rule out other names being used incorrectly by stores and hobbyists.

Now, if that has not completely lost you, to your other question of compatible fish (discus being mentioned), if I read your post correctly.

Loaches are highly social fish, and they absolutely must be in a group. Five is minimum, though four can sometimes work. They will develop an hierarchy within the group. Having any fewer than four or five means that one and then another of them will almost certainly be hounded to death. So, You need more of these, another four. If you have space (the tank size is not given in your post). This fish will attain six inches in length (15 cm) so it needs at minimum a 4-foot (120 cm) length aquarium, with lots of chunks of wood.

We can discuss tankmates once we know the tank size. Discus are not advisable, as this loach is relatively active, and this will unsettle discus and other sedate fish. Also, this loach may fin nip fish with long or flowing fins.

EDIT: fozziebear posted while I was typing, but we have come to the same conclusion.:)
 

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