In the north of India there are two Badis species, which are indistinguishable by color: B. blosyrus and B. assamensis. The only discernible difference that exists is the size of the mouth cleft. It is much larger in B. blosyrus and reaches below the center of the eye margin, whereas in B. assamensis the mouth opening reaches only just to the anterior margin of the eye.
It is problematic that practically always the two species are exported mixed, because they both live in the same region. Whether they are two species at all or “only” two ecotypes is uncertain. We are just completely unable to sort the animals here. To do so, each individual animal would have to be subjected to a thorough examination with a strong magnifying glass. The amount of work required for this is simply not affordable.
Since Badis assamensis is the largest of all Badis species known so far – it reaches a total length of 8-9 cm! – we therefore usually refer to the imports with jumbo fish as B. assamensis. Badis blosyrus remains much smaller, the largest specimen we measured has a total length (i.e. including caudal fin) of 6 cm.
Although we offer Badis assamensis and B. blosyrus on the stocklist, you always have to expect to get a mix of both species for the reasons mentioned above. Both species belong to the most beautiful Badis. If you intend to breed, you must acquire a larger number of animals, feed them vigorously until the females become recognizable by their outwardly curved ventral line (there are no other sex differences), and then put the breeding pairs together under close scrutiny with a magnifying glass. B. assamensis and B. blosyrus are typical cave breeders, with the male guarding the spawn until the young hatch.
For our customers: B. assamensis has code 368304 and B. blosyrus 368123 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
