Botiidae, the pointface loaches, is a family of

cypriniform Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, which includes many families and genera of cyprinid ( carps and their kin) fish, such as barbs, loaches, botias, and minnows (among others). Cypriniformes is an "order-within-an-order", placed und ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es from

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

, and

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. Until recently they were placed in the

true loach Cobitidae, also known as the true loaches, is a family of Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families (see below). The family includes ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cobitidae Cobitidae, also known as the true loaches, is a family of Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most " loaches" are placed in other families (see below). The family includ ...

, until

Maurice Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

revised the loaches and re-elevated this taxon to family rank in 2012.Kottelat, M. (2012)
Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei).
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'', Supplement No. 26: 1-199. The family includes about 56 species. The Botiids are more robust than most of their relatives in Cobitidae and tend to have a more or less arched back, yielding an altogether more

fusiform Fusiform (from Latin ''fusus'' ‘spindle’) means having a spindle (textiles), spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon (geometry), lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a ...

shape. Botiids typically have a pointed snout of intermediate length, while many cobitids are remarkably stub-nosed. Botiids are generally fairly small, with maximum lengths between depending on the species involved, although ''

Leptobotia elongata ''Leptobotia elongata'', the imperial flower loach, elongate loach or royal clown loach, is a species of botiid fish found in flowing water in the upper and middle Yangtze basin in China.SeriouslyFishLeptobotia elongata Retrieved 10 March 2017. ...

'' reaches (''

Chromobotia macracanthus The clown loach (''Chromobotia macracanthus''), or tiger botia, is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the botiid loach family. It is the sole member of the genus ''Chromobotia''. It originates in inland waters in Indonesia on the islands o ...

'' has been claimed to reach a similar size, but this would be exceptional).

Genera

Botiidae contains the following genera:

As aquarium fish

Many of the more brightly colored species are popular with

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

aquarists An aquarist is a person who manages aquariums, either professionally or as a hobby. They typically care for aquatic animals, including fish and marine invertebrates. Some may care for aquatic mammals. Aquarists often work at public aquariums. They ...

, so are of importance in the aquarium trade. Botiidae often encountered in aquarium trade include: *

Clown loach The clown loach (''Chromobotia macracanthus''), or tiger botia, is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the botiid loach family. It is the monotypic, sole member of the genus ''Chromobotia''. It originates in inland waters in Indonesia on the ...

, ''Chromobotia macracanthus'' * Red-finned loach, ''Yasuhikotakia modesta'' *

Dwarf loach The dwarf loach, ladderback loach, pygmy loach, chain loach or chain botia (''Ambastaia sidthimunki'') is a freshwater fish belonging to the family Botiidae. Formerly included in the genus '' Yasuhikotakia'', it is frequently seen in the aquarium ...

, ''Ambastaia sidthimunki'' *

Skunk loach The skunk loach, skunk botia or Hora's loach (''Yasuhikotakia morleti''; syn. ''Botia morleti'', ''Botia horae'') is a species of botiid loach found in the Mekong River basin in Indochina, as well as the Chao Phraya and Mae Klong basins in Thail ...

, ''Yasuhikotakia morleti'' *

Yoyo loach The yoyo loach, Almora loach or Pakistani loach (''Botia almorhae'') is a freshwater fish belonging to the loach family Botiidae. It originates in the slow-running and still waters of the Ganges basin in northern India and possibly Nepal.Seriously ...

, ''Botia almorhae'' * Zebra loach, ''B. striata'' * Bengal loach, ''B. dario'' *

Burmese border loach The Burmese Border loach, angelicus loach or polka dot loach, ''Botia kubotai'', is a recently described species that has quickly become a popular tropical fish for freshwater aquariums. In 2002, fish collectors working in western Thailand began t ...

, ''B. kubotai''

References

* Kottelat, M. (2004): ''Botia kubotai'', a new species of loach (Teleostei: Cobitidae) from the Ataran River basin (Myanmar), with comments on botiine nomenclature and diagnosis of a new genus. ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

'' 401: 1–18
PDF abstract and first page image
* Tang, Qiong-ying; Yu, Dan & Liu, Huan-zhang (2008): 斑纹薄鳅 (''Leptobotia zebra'') 应该为斑纹沙鳅 (''Sinibotia zebra'') ''Leptobotia zebra'' Should Be Revised as ''Sinibotia zebra'' (Cypriniformes-Botiidae)" ''Zoological Research'' 29(1): 1-9 hinese with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
Cypriniformes families Taxa named by Lev Berg {{Cypriniformes-stub