With one of our first Sri Lanka imports of wild-caught fish after a long time, we also received Schistura notostigma. Until recently this species was thought to be the only Schistura species from the island, but recently two other species have been described from there, S. madhavai and S. scripta. The easiest way to distinguish the three species is by the stripes on the forebody. S. madhavai is unstriped in front of the dorsal fin, S. notostigma has 6-7 broad stripes in front of the base of the anal fin towards the head and S. scripta has 7-13 narrower stripes. S. notostigma also differs from S. scripta in having a complete lateral line (incomplete in S. scripta, ending below the dorsal fin). Unfortunately, this can hardly be seen in live animals.
All three loaches remain small, around 5-6 cm. They are peaceful contemporaries, but create a small territory around a cave. This can be under a stone, a root or something else. A pair likes to move in here. In the wild, these animals usually live in shallow water (around 3 cm) in running waters with a pebble bottom. Our animals are obviously in a spawning mood. The males are strongly yellowish in color, the females have a red belly.
Schistura notostigma is a problem-free omnivore that has no special requirements in terms of water composition. The temperature can be between 22 and 26°C. The species is adaptable and does not need a strong current, but a certain flow in the tank should be a matter of course for such fish. S. notostigma should always be kept in a group so that the exciting social behavior of these fish can be observed.
For our customers: the animals have code 454952 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
