Edit Akysis varius

You can suggest changes to this profile. A moderator will review each change.

Name

Scientific name

Akysis varius

Described by

Authority Ng & Kottelat, Year 1998

Family

Akysidae

Common names

Variable Stream Catfish

Photograph credits

All 1 credited

Summary

The variable stream catfish, Akysis varius, is a small akysid catfish from the Mekong drainage in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. The number o…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

40mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 45 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm, Water movement High: fast-flowing river or riffle

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 16.5–24°C, pH 6–7.5

Hardness

2–12dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Peaceful

Community suitability

Community-safe

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Mekong, Mun, Siem Reap, Xe Bang Fai

Writing

Etymology

Akysis: from the Greek á- (Gr. ἀ), meaning 'not, without' and kýstis (Gr. κύστις), meaning 'bladder', in reference to genus members lacking a swim bladder. var…

Distribution

Described from the Xe Bangfai river system with type locality around 3 km upstream of Ban Pakphanang village in Khammouane/Khammouan province, central western …

Habitat

Members of this genus are near-exclusive inhabitants of swiftly-flowing streams and rivers with substrates generally consisting of any combination of sand, gra…

Aquarium size

A tank with base dimensions of 45 ∗ 30 cm is more than sufficient, even for a group.

Maintenance

Not difficult to keep but should really be provided with a soft, sandy substrate since some of its time is spent completely buried, or with only eyes protrudin…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Akysis species are primarily nocturnal micropredators feeding on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and other zooplankton. They can be a little pi…

Behaviour and compatibility

Not especially competitive and should not be kept with much larger or more aggressive fishes. Miniature schooling cyprinids such as Boraras, Microdevario or sm…

Not especially competitive and should not be kept with much larger or more aggressive fishes. Miniature schooling cyprinids such as Boraras, Microdevario or smaller Danio/Rasbora species make good tankmates and if geography isn't an issue many similarly-sized characins and livebearers should also work.

Other similarly-sized akysid catfishes plus smaller sisorids such as Erithistes, Erethistoides, Hara, Pseudolaguvia and many Glyptothorax spp. are recommended for the lower levels.

In addition, many balitorid loaches from genera such as Gastromyzon, Pseudogastromyzon and Homaloptera are also suitable. Some members of the families Botiidae, Cobitidae and Nemacheilidae are ok but proper research is essential as some can be excessively aggressive/territorial or simply grow too large, and it's also proven to co-exist peacefully with freshwater shrimp.

It's nonaggressive towards conspecifics and can be kept singly or in a group as preferred.

Editing needs JavaScript. This is the text as it was last saved.

Where does this come from?

My own experienceFor example, I've kept twelve in a planted 60 cm tank since March 2024.A website I sawFor example, an IUCN Red List assessment, a museum catalogue or a FishBase page.A paperFor example, Marshall et al. (2011), Water temperature differences in interfluvial palm swamp habitats of Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans.A book, or something not onlineFor example, Tappin (2010), Rainbowfishes: their care and keeping in captivity.Something already on the pageFor example, the Behaviour and compatibility section already says this.

Web address

Paste the address of the page that says this. What counts as a source

DOI

Paste a DOI and we will look up the rest of the reference. A DOI looks like 10.11646/zootaxa.4694.4.1, and most papers print it on the first page.

Title

Enter the title of the paper, book or page. If you leave it empty, we will use the website's address.

Authors

Separate authors with semicolons, e.g. Tan, H.H.; Ng, P.K.L.

Year

Journal or publisher

Pages

Enter the page that says this, e.g. 218 or 218–221.

Anything worth adding

Describe what you saw, or which part of the source says this.

Sexual dimorphism

Unreported, but sexual dimorphism has been reported in A. alfredi (Ng and Kottelat, 1998), A. fuscus (Ng, 1996)[2] and A. microps (Ng and Tan, 1999)[3]. In the…

Reproduction

Unreported, though a short report was published in the description of A. vespa (Ng and Kottelat, 2004)[9], in which a successful spawning event in that species…

Notes

This species is among the smaller members of the family. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: cau…

References

13 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References