Edit Schistura vinciguerrae

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

Name

Scientific name

Schistura vinciguerrae

Described by

Authority Hora, Year 1935, Bracketed

Family

Nemacheilidae

Common names

Not recorded

Photograph credits

All 2 credited

Summary

Schistura vinciguerrae is a nemacheilid loach from the Irrawaddy, Salween and Chindwin river basins in Myanmar and northeastern India. Trad…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

75mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 90 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm, Water movement High: fast-flowing river or riffle

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 20–26°C, pH 6–7.5

Hardness

2–12dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Not recorded

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

India, Myanmar, Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, Salween

Writing

Etymology

Schistura: from the Greek schizein, meaning 'to divide', and oura, meaning 'tail', in reference to the caudal-fin shape of many species. vinciguerrae: named fo…

Distribution

Type locality is 'Meekalam, Myanmar', corresponding to an area in current-day Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar, and this species is known from the Irrawaddy and Sal…

Habitat

Inhabits clear, well-oxygenated streams and minor rivers around watersheds and headwaters. These are often shaded by forest cover with the substrate invariably…

Aquarium size

Even a small group will need an aquarium with base dimensions of 90 ∗ 30 cm or similar.

Maintenance

Not difficult to maintain under the correct conditions. We strongly recommend keeping it in a tank designed to resemble a flowing stream or river with a substr…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Schistura species are omnivorous although the bulk of their diet consists of small insects, worms, crustaceans, and other zooplankton with only relatively smal…

Behaviour and compatibility

Not especially aggressive compared with some members of the genus but remains largely unsuitable for the 'general' community aquarium due to its somewhat speci…

Sexual dimorphism

Females should be slightly thicker-bodied, especially when full of eggs.

Reproduction

Not known to have been bred in aquaria.

Notes

This species is traded on a fairly regular basis and is similar in appearance to some congeners, most notably S. bella, S. hoai, S. mahnerti, S. multifasciata,…

This species is traded on a fairly regular basis and is similar in appearance to some congeners, most notably S. bella, S. hoai, S. mahnerti, S. multifasciata, S. poculi, S. reticulata, S. longa, S. conirostris and S. udomritthiruji.

This assemblage has been referred to as the Schistura multifasciata 'group', and members share a colour pattern in which the anterior vertical flank bars are divided, and thus thinner in the anterior portion of the body than in the posterior.

S. vinciguerrae can be told apart from S. bella, S. mahnerti, S. reticulata and S. udomritthiruji by the absence of a suborbital flap in males (vs. presence), and from S. poculi by possession of 9+8 branched caudal-fin rays (vs. 8+7).

It can be further distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: body yellowish brown with 10-16 dark bars, wider than interspaces; most bars have darker margins; no adipose crests on caudal peduncle; presence of vertically-elongate dark spot on caudal peduncle, extending downwards from extremity of lateral line, with 1-2 small spots on base of upper caudal-fin rays; 1-2 irregular rows of spots in caudal-fin.

It also differs in some aspects of colour pattern but since individuals of all species in the S. multifasciata group are variable in this respect both between and within poulations it is a less reliable means of identification.

Schistura is the most species-rich genus among nemacheilid loaches with some 190 members and it continues to grow with over 100 having been described since 1990.

It may represent a polyphyletic lineage and is often arranged into a number of loosely-defined species 'groups', some of which are quite dissimilar to one another.

Among these are an assemblage in which some or all of the body bars are vertically split and another which exhibit reductions in body size (adult size <50 mm2.0 in SL), the number of pelvic and pectoral-fin rays and often the number of caudal-fin rays and lateral line length, for example.

Some species, such as S. geisleri, also appear to be unrelated to any of the others.

Most inhabit flowing streams or areas close to waterfalls where there naturally exist high concentrations of dissolved oxygen, and a handful are troglobytic, i.e., cave-dwelling, in existence. The latter have reduced pigmentation and are completely blind in many cases.

Schistura spp. are distinguished from other nemacheilids by a combination of morphological characters which include: a moderately arched mouth which is 2-3.5 times wider than it is long; a median 'interruption' in the lower lip which does not form two lateral triangular pads and can vary from smooth to furrowed in texture; diverse colour pattern but usually dark with relatively regular bars; usually a black bar at the caudal-fin base which can be broken into two spots or smaller bars; one or two black markings along the base of the dorsal-fin; lack of acuminate scales on the caudal peduncle; caudal-fin shape variable from truncate to forked but usually emarginate; presence or absence of a median notch in the lower jaw; clear sexual dimorphism in some species.

The family Nemacheilidae is widely-distributed across most of Eurasia with the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China representing particular centres of species diversity.

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.

References

9 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