The yoyo loach, Almora loach or Pakistani loach (''Botia almorhae'') is a freshwater
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
belonging to the loach
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Botiidae
Botiidae is a family of cypriniform ray-finned fishes from South, Southeast, and East Asia. Until recently they were placed in the true loach family Cobitidae, until Maurice Kottelat revised the loaches and re-elevated this taxon to family rank ...
. It originates in the slow-running and still waters of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
basin in northern India and possibly
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
.
[SeriouslyFish: ]
Botia almorhae.
' Retrieved 15 July 2014.[Grant, S. (2007). ''Fishes of the genus Botia Gray, 1831, in the Indian region (Teleostei: Botiidae).'' Ichthyofile 2: 1-106] Despite the alternative common name Pakistani loach, the true ''B. almorhae'' is not known from Pakistan (the species in this country is ''
B. birdi'').
[
It may attain a length of , and is named for its dark and pale patterns, which often can be seen to spell "yoyo" (especially in smaller/younger specimens), hence the common name yoyo loach.][ The final common name, Almora loach, refers to ]Almora
Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...
in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, India.[ Specimens labelled as ''B. almorhae'' are commonly found in the ]aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
trade, but most (if not all) of these appear to be the closely related '' B. lohachata'', two possibly undescribed species
In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...
popularly referred to as ''B. sp.'' "Kosi" and ''B. sp.'' "Teesta", or hybrids.[
]
See also
* List of freshwater aquarium fish species
A vast number of aquatic species have successfully adapted to live in the freshwater aquarium. This list gives some examples of the most common species found in home aquariums.
Catfish
Characins and other characiformes
...
References
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1802036
Botiidae
Fish of India
Fish described in 1831
Taxa named by John Edward Gray