# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Protomyzon pachychilus ~ rare!

## apistoworld(HK)

Protomyzon pachychilus ~ rare !

one of the endangered fish species
Is a very rare and valuable species, the original growth in China's western region, is a unique species, from the largest fish, only 5 cm, a strong physique, adaptable, active and lively, easy to raise.

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## planted86

wow... nice... front view looks like bamboo shark...

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## avant

A very beautiful loach. I believe they are now called _Erromyzon yangi_.
It'll be good to see them in our shores  :Very Happy:

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## MrTree

> A very beautiful loach. I believe they are now called _Erromyzon yangi_.


you got the paper?? 

lots of the native fish lovers here are against the commercial trade of this fish now.. :Razz:

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## Mimbon

dear Mr. Tree

Do you have any info who made the identification of this species? I checked the scientific description and the pic of the holotpye in Neely et al 2007 ,E. yangi has no vertical bars,only one big black line over the body,also Protomyzon pachychilus is different.
Do you know where the fishes sold in Hk are sold are coming from? Locality?

Regards

Roland

www.mimbon.de

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## avant

Unfortunately, I don't have the paper for it. But from what I read, they originates from Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) drainage of the Guangxi Province in China. 
In case anyone is looking for the paper, the reference is "Neely DA, Conway KW and RL Mayden (2007) - Erromyzon yangi, a new hillstream loach (Teleostei: Balitoridae) from the Pearl River drainage of Guangxi Province, China. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. "

I first saw the sighting in a post over at www.loaches.com last month. The guy who posted the photos happens to be from Hong Kong as well. 

As much as I hope to get my hands on them, I do hope they aren't over-collected and driven to extinction. Any habitat pictures of these creatures?

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## MrTree

they are from Jinxiu county at Da Yao mountain region...famous place for many other stuff..

http://www.gxtravel.com/Map/default.asp

check out this one i took from Hainan island..also zebra marking, but when it grows, just turn normal..

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t=IMG_7159.jpg

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## Quixotic

> A very beautiful loach. I believe they are now called _Erromyzon yangi_.
> It'll be good to see them in our shores


avant, do you meant _P. pachyphilus_ is now called _E. yangi_, that they are the same fish? I am a little confused now.

I read an article on Practical Fishkeeping (PFK) about the _E. yangi_ paper and seem to understand it differently. PFK mentions that there are 3 different but similar fishes, _E. yangi_, _P_. _pachyphilus_ and _E. sinensis_. Although I don't quite fully understood the difference as mentioned in the article, _E. yangi_ and _P_. _pachyphilus_ are supposedly 2 different fishes. So this fish could still _either_ be _E. yangi_ or "_P_." _pachyphilus_?
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u....php?news=1277

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## avant

Very very sorry. I was terribly mistaken. They are two different fish. The photo shown here is _Protomyzon pachychilus_ and not _Erromyzon yangi_.

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## Quixotic

No worries, avant. Just to make sure I am understanding the article correctly.  :Wink: 

These loaches sure looks pretty, reminds me of _Schistura pridii_.  :Kiss:

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## MrTree

Protomyzon is restricted to Borneo. Chinese ones are Erromyzon.

I don't know who identified it, below is _E.sinensis._

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...n_sinensis.jpg

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## avant

I'm slightly confused.
So the name Protomyzon is incorrect for this loach since it is from China?

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## Quixotic

Ah I guess that is why the PFK article refers to "_Protomyzon_" _pachychilus_ using double quotation marks. So I assume that there is still some research to be done for _"P." pachychilus_ and maybe assign to the proper genus in future?

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## avant

You might be correct on the quotation marks. Let's wait for the updated paper on it then.

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## chedra

So pachychilus stay b&w as adults? Given that the color pattern development of 2 Sewellia species are known to turn from blotches in fry to horizontal lines/spots in adults it is quite likely that pachychilus won't stay nice for long?

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## MrTree

it probably won't, now i remember i have the red data book...will check it tonight

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## chedra

I've check the loaches forum and it looks like in half grown specimens the barred pattern starts to break up, head changes shape, and pectoral fins expand.

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## MrTree

just checked my books including Fauna Sinica..below is english description in red data book

Body color brownish yellow on back, grayish yellow on belly, top of head dark brown and with one black spot on both sides, dark streaks not obvious but with horizontal stripes along lateral line......

so only look good when young..

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## chedra

That's description on life color?

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## blueblue

> just checked my books including Fauna Sinica..below is english description in red data book
> 
> Body color brownish yellow on back, grayish yellow on belly, top of head dark brown and with one black spot on both sides, dark streaks not obvious but with horizontal stripes along lateral line......
> 
> so only look good when young..



I also acquired some  :Smile: 
Well, according to a journal paper by Kong et al., the "panda" pattern only appears when the fish is young, the adult one looks very different. This paper has two pictures which show this point explicitly.

Reference: Kong, Chan and Yang: "Threatened fishes of the world: Protomyzon pachychilus Chen, 1980 (Balitoridae", Envion Biol Fish ( 2008 ) 83:243-244.

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## MrTree

> I also acquired some 
> Well, according to a journal paper by Kong et al., the "panda" pattern only appears when the fish is young, the adult one looks very different. This paper has two pictures which show this point explicitly.
> 
> Reference: Kong, Chan and Yang: "Threatened fishes of the world: Protomyzon pachychilus Chen, 1980 (Balitoridae", Envion Biol Fish ( 2008 ) 83:243-244.


yes, the new Fishes of Guangxi province book has the adult picture inside..along with young ones of course..

and i know who makes all this happening.. :Razz:

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## MrTree

adult from Fishes of Guangxi second edition

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## SCOPE

Great information...Thanks for sharing!

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## chedra

Pic from another webboard [subadult a few months from b&w stage].

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## blueblue

Thanks for the sharing. By the way, is there any information on its breeding condition, etc?

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## hyun007

cute when young, ugly like &*(*& when adult, just like some people.
Not going to buy it.

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## BonjaLa

Seen this loach when i was overseas. Its very pretty :Smile:

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## Hafiz934

Hi what is that fish in ur avatar?

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## sandstone

Hi I am new to the site,, very interested in getting afew of these guys.. Protomyzon pachychilus would like more info on them.. Like how hard are they to keep, water temp. TDS, Ph.. and if they are worth the big $ to get some... thanks and have a wonderful day.. Sandy

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