There are ten known species in the genus Mesonoemacheilus. They are small, 4-6 cm long, very lively loaches. All of them occur along the Western Ghats, a mountain chain along the west coast of India, the so called Malabar coast. These mountains border the inland against the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats are a so called hotspot of biodiversity. Almost each small river that flows to the sea contains its own, endemic fish fauna, among them many loaches and among the loaches Mesonoemacheilus.
We were able ot import a good number of these charming fishes currently. Most individuals belong to the species Mesonoemacheilus guentheri, but there are also some individuals of other, closely related species, like M. herrei and the Zodiac loach, M. triangularis.
One should keep these fishes in a tank with fine sand bottom and some flat stones. Here the loaches will erect small territories. In this tank will occur a neverending swimming, hunting and quarreling. It will be never boaring to observe such an aquarium!
For our customers: the fish have code 429892 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively the whoilesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
