Re: NANFA-- dwarf loach? [off NA fishes topic - sorry]

Tony (anutej_at_loxinfo.co.th)
Fri, 13 Oct 2000 02:12:36 +0700

In nature [at least in Thailand that I know about] it is so far extinct and
it is protected by law in Thailand [together with Asian arowana, Coius tiger fish,
and a few other species] so by the law no one can have the dwarf botia. Actually
only a handful of commercial breeders [maybe only one farm] artificially breed
this species, but they are very much inbred and become smaller and less
fertile... At least since the law is not well enforced somebody can still bred
them and they still exist... Nothing much is known about natural history but
obviously in Thailand loss of spawning habitat [dam and loss of flood forests and
floodplains - DEVELOPMENT] exterminate this species and many others such as the
common in hobby bala shark [all] and the bicolor shark [almost]. Don't know about
cites though.
More is known about the larger relative of the dwarf loach, the Botia
nigrolineata. Unfortunately all are wild caught from spawning ground and most
refuse to eat much and thin down to death in captivity, especially the adult.

Tony

Mark wrote:

> Someone wrote -
> >I hate banning since many species that is gonna go extinct in the wild
> >are
> > prevented from captive breeding by overcover laws [eg. dwarf loach -
> > fortunately[?] the law is not strictly enforced]
>
> What's up with this dwarf loach? Is that Botia sidmunthki...or something
> like that? Is it on the CITES list or something? I've always wondered why
> I have very seldom seen it for sale.
>
> Mark Binkley
> Columbus Ohio USA <))><
> mbinkley_at_columbus.rr.com
>
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