This species not often seen in the aquarium trade and is apparently rare in its natural waters, with the occasional individual imported as bycatch in shipments of S. pulchra or S. robusta, or by private collectors. Like others in the genus it has a highly flexible, sinuous body which makes it very interesting to observe.
It's told apart from congeners by the following combination of characters: snout shorter than post-orbital length of head; sides of head without brown, vermiform markings or spots; eye diameter measuring 12.3-13.5% of head length; interorbital width 28.8-30.0% head length; body with 7-8 dark, vertical bars; light spaces between the bars are narrower than the bars themselves; four dark stripes on the head; dorsal and anal fins with poorly-defined black stripe; pectoral and pelvic fins with dark, submarginal band; caudal-fin reddish with a dark, continuous vertical stripe in the anterior portion and one or two dark bands on each lobe.
The genus Sinibotia currently contains six species, all of which are native to China plus in at least one case, Laos. All were also previously considered to belong to Botia.
Not a great deal of information has been published since the turn of the century but Yang and Chen (1992)[8] stated that it can be separated from related loach genera by the following combination of characters: suborbital spine strong and bifurcate; top of cranium without fontanelle; possession of three pairs of barbels and one pair of mental 'buttons' (rounded mental lobes in lower lip); minute scales; cheeks scaleless; dorsal-fin located closer to caudal-fin base then snout; caudal-fin forked; anterior portion of swim bladder usually enclosed in a partial-to-completely ossified capsule, posterior portion of swim bladder not enclosed.
The family Botiidae has been widely considered a genetically distinct grouping since Nalbant (2002), having previously been considered a subfamily (Botiinae) of the family Cobitidae. Nalbant also moved some previous members of Botia into the new genus Yasuhikotakia based on a number of morphological characters.
Later Kottelat (2004) made further modifications to the taxonomy, raising Chromobotia for B. macracanthus and confirming that species previously included in the genus Hymenophysa should instead be referred to Syncrossus.
The former alteration was based on colour pattern plus some morphological characters and the latter because Hymenophysa not only represents a spelling mistake (McClelland's original spelling was Hymenphysa) but is a junior synonym of Botia.
More recently Kottelat (2012) erected the genus Ambastaia to accommodate A.nigrolineata and A. sidthimunki, two former members of both Botia and Yasuhikotakia.
As a result of these works the family Botiidae is thus divided into two tribes within which Botia appears to be the most basal lineage:
Tribe Leptobotiini - Leptobotia, Parabotia, Sinibotia.
Tribe Botiini - Ambastaia, Botia, Chromobotia, Syncrossus, Yasuhikotakia.
Phylogenetic studies by Tang et al. (2005) and Šlechtová et al. (2006) have largely confirmed this system to be correct although the latter disagreed with the placement of Sinibotia, finding it to be more closely related to the tribe Botiini.
Ambastaia nigrolineata and A. sidthimunki were found to be more closely-related to both Sinibotia and Syncrossus than Yasuhikotakia, despite being considered members of the latter at the time. Šlechtová et al. also proposed the use of subfamily names under the following system:
Subfamily Leptobotiinae - Leptobotia, Parabotia.
Subfamily Botiinae - Botia, Chromobotia, Sinibotia, Syncrossus, Yasuhikotakia.
Within these Botia appears to be the basal, i.e., most ancient, lineage and in a more-detailed phylogenetic analysis Šlechtová et al. (2007) confirmed the validity of the family Botiidae with the genera listed above as members rather then being grouped into subfamilies. This more recent, simpler system is the one we currently follow here on SF.
Sinibotia spp. also possess sharp, motile, sub-ocular spines which are normally concealed within a pouch of skin but erected when an individual is stressed, e.g., if removed from the water. Care is therefore necessary as these can become entangled in aquarium nets and those of larger specimens can break human skin.
Botiids are also susceptible to a condition commonly referred to as 'skinny disease' and characterised by a loss of weight. This is especially common in newly-imported specimens and is thought to be caused by a species of the flagellate genus Spironucleus.
It's treatable although the recommended medication varies depending on country. Hobbyists in the UK tend to use the antibiotic Levamisole and those in the United States Fenbendazole (aka Panacur).
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