July 11th, 2013 — 4:40pm
Some wild populations have evolved a complex amphidromous breeding strategy in which adults live and spawn in freshwater or brackish streams and the pelagic post-hatch larvae are washed downstream to the sea where the post-larval fry spend the first part of their life developing in estuarine nursery zones under brackish to full marine conditions.
Once they reach a certain stage of development they begin to migrate upstream with some mov…
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
July 11th, 2013 — 3:02pm
There are a number of unidentified species within the grouping of which several are referred to using a two-letter code based on their respective colour pattern for ease of reference, with ‘CB’ shorthand for ‘cross band’, for example.
R. sp. ‘CB’ is the commonest member of the grouping in Japan but has not yet entered the international aquarium trade as far as we know.
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
July 11th, 2013 — 10:00am
As is typical for the genus eggs are deposited on the ceiling of a cave or crevice and guarded by the male until hatching.
Several potential sites should be offered in the form of rocks (flat slate tends to be easiest to handle, see below), terracotta pipes, plant pots, etc.
A nuptial male will select a site and defend it agai…
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 24th, 2013 — 12:20pm
Known from various parts of the middle and upper Mekong river basins with record existing from the Nam Tha, Nam Ou, Nam Khan, Nam Lik, Nam Ngum and Nam Mang tributary systems in Laos, the Nam Noeua (a tributary of Nam Ou) in Vietnam, and the Mae Nam Kok in Thailand.
Occurrences in the Chao Phraya drainage in central Thailand most likely refer to the congener R. chiengmaiensis.
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
Chiangmai Stream Goby
June 21st, 2013 — 4:11pm
This species has been exported for the ornamental trade but often labelled as the congener R. mekongianus.
Although the two do appear relatively similar R. chiengmaiensis can be identified by a combination of external characters including: presence of 5 irregular dark markings on the body (vs. 7-8 i…
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 21st, 2013 — 8:34am
This species’ name has appeared quite regularly on ornamental fish trade lists since the mid-00’s but it’s unclear whether the species itself has ever been exported since fish labelled as such do not appear to fully match the most recent key (see below).
That said, its natural habitats lie in the same region as the loach Yaoshania pachychilus so it’s reasonable to assume that some specimens may have been collected, and the fish in our images were ca…
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 20th, 2013 — 3:26pm
This species was previously considered to be a subspecies of R. nagoyae but has generally been accepted as distinct since 2008.
It can be told apart from other Rhinogobius spp. from Taiwan by presence of irregular, wavy, reddish brown lines on the cheek and opercle.
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 19th, 2013 — 4:23pm
This species may not yet have appeared in the ornamental trade but it has been collected by a few individuals.
It can be told apart from related species from Taiwan by possessing 30-32 longitudinal (lateral) scales vs. 32-39 in other species, and 6-8 scale rows between the origin of the first dorsal-fin and upper pectoral-fin base vs. 9-15 in other species.
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 19th, 2013 — 3:04pm
It’s unlikely that this species has been in the aquarium hobby given its natural range and the lack of commercial fishing for the ornamental trade in that area.
Among congeners it’s most similar to R. davidi but can be told apart by presence of 8 (vs. always 9 in R. davidi) soft dorsal-fin rays, 10 (vs. 11-12) transverse scale rows, and 6-7 (vs. 8-10) scales between the first dorsal-fin origin and upper pectoral-fin base.
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
June 18th, 2013 — 3:40pm
This species appears to exist in a number of different forms which exhibit differences in colour pattern, morphology, or both, and it’s currently unclear whether all of them are truly conspecific or not although those in the aquarium trade all appear similar to one another.
We’ve been unable to obtain a copy of the original description so it’s not currently possible to provide a detailed diagnosis either, with most recent studi…
Comment » | Category: Gobies & Sleepers, Perciformes
Product reviewers wanted
Hello! Very much interested in writing for you, please include me in the info. Thank you for the opportunity!
6th Sep 2020
Product reviewers wanted
I would be interested in reviewing products. Before retiring I was a technical writer and managed a Quality Management Program.
30th Aug 2020
Product reviewers wanted
I'm interested and can write reviews from the perspective of someone new to the hobby. I'm only 3-4 months in, but hopefully I can help someone that's...
23rd Aug 2020
Product reviewers wanted
I’m interested in doing this if there is still availability, it sounds like fun! Thanks
19th Aug 2020
Barbodes semifasciolatus – Golden Barb* (Barbus sachsii, Puntius schuberti)
I simply had a question (please forgive if this is not allowed, I read the FAQ but I was not sure). I was wondering if there is any evidence of offsp...
12th Aug 2020