Hello. Help identifying this fish

Fuácata · Feb 5, 2022

Hello folks.

I honestly have no idea where this little guy came from. I noticed him a couple of months ago after doing a big overhaul of my freshwater 55 gallon which i had neglected and was overgrown with mostly java fern.
I have never purchased anything like him, so i don't know how he made it into my tank. The only explanation i can come up with is somehow there was an unhatched egg attached to a plant... ???

He sort of looks like a danio to me, but behaves more like an oto, if that's in any way helpful to identify him.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Wills · Feb 5, 2022

Fuácata said:
Hello folks.

I honestly have no idea where this little guy came from. I noticed him a couple of months ago after doing a big overhaul of my freshwater 55 gallon which i had neglected and was overgrown with mostly java fern.
I have never purchased anything like him, so i don't know how he made it into my tank. The only explanation i can come up with is somehow there was an unhatched egg attached to a plant... ???

He sort of looks like a danio to me, but behaves more like an oto, if that's in any way helpful to identify him.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Looks like a small loach species maybe a rosy loach? Or possible an Inle Loach?

PheonixKingZ · Feb 5, 2022

Hello and welcome yo the forum! :hi:

My best guess is an Inle Loach (Petruichthys brevis). The markings look very similar, but they can vary depending on specific strains.

Here is an informational article on them:

Petruichthys brevis (Inle Loach)

This species is sometimes traded as 'Lake Inle red-tailed loach' and was formerly included in the genus Yunnanilus, a diverse assemblage of which the majority of members are endemic to the Yunnan plateau in Yunnan province, southern China.

www.seriouslyfish.com