# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  undescribed Boraras sp. from Thailand

## hwchoy

Some of you already know that there are six species in the genus _Boraras_, one of which is not yet described. Although it is undescribed by science it does not mean it is rare, endangered or anything. It just means the scientists are busy and have yet to get round to describing it.

As far as I know this fish has never been on sale in Singapore.

Nevertheless it is a very nice fish, about 1cm and schools very well, like most of the other _Boraras_ spp. For those of you who wants to see this fish, go to Eco Culture next week as they will have about 100 pieces in their display tank. I'm not sure if they intend to sell them hence this post is not in the marketplace forum. Still it is a very nice fish and well worth having a look. The picture here shows a female, the male has red trims on the dorsal and anal fins and reddish flush behind the pectoral spot.

*Boraras sp.*

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## Roadrage

Agree with choy, its quite a nice fish. Saw a batch of it at kingfisher today  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

new shipment?

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## Roadrage

[quote:0f052604b6="hwchoy"]new shipment?[/quote:0f052604b6]

Well I saw Ian bring them down from the quarantine tank upstair just down so I guess they probably arrive a couple of days ago.

If you were to make a trip down, you can see them sharing the same tank as the juvenile red eye emperor  :Smile: 

Can you do me a flavour if you happen to be there, saw a couple of new unidentified tetraa there maybe you can help me ID them ? Thanks

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## mad scientist

[quote:9d60fd705c="hwchoy"]new shipment?[/quote:9d60fd705c]

Interesting cos I was there on Thursday inquiring about _Boraras_ merah and maculatus. KF only had B. brigittae in stock then. Ian didn't mention anything to me about new boraras in his shop which he has under quarantine  :Smile: 

Mexx: what you saw could be the marculatus which looks very similar (IMO) to the _Boraras_ sp. Saw both species at Eco on Thurs and very frankly, if I hadn't looked closely I couldn't really tell the difference. 

Mr Choy: If I aint mistaken, you were at Ecoculture on Thursday as well yah? Didnt approach you as I wasn't sure. Would be terribly embarassing if I'd gotten the wrong guy.  :Opps: 


PS: anyone saw any maculatus on sale anywhere? Saw lotsa them around sometime back but they seems to have all disappeared!

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## mad scientist

[quote:ef1a33b345="hwchoy"]
As far as I know this fish has never been on sale in Singapore.

[/quote:ef1a33b345]

Btw, Azmi (from Eco) trying to bring in a batch of those _Boraras_ sp. himself from the overwhelming response he got from hobbyist(s) who went down to "sapu" those brought down by Mr Loh. Alas, I was too late...  :Sad:  *disappointed*


So for those who missed the boat like yours truly, just grab a stool and wait patiently... I guarantee that after seeing these babies, you'll feel that tis all worthwhile  :Smile:

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## Roadrage

Well I am very sure they are the ones. There is a mixture of male and female because I notice that the males have red fins and the female don't.

The moment I saw it just now , I immediately remember the picture that choy have posted. 

You can probably check it out this weekend if you happen to be there. 

Ian seldom mention what is arriving but I can say that the store upstair yields a lot of treasures  :Smug:

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## mad scientist

[quote:eec0bb8333="Roadrage"]
Ian seldom mention what is arriving but I can say that the store upstair yields a lot of treasures  :Smug: [/quote:eec0bb8333]


Couldn't agree more on this. We could probably dig up a golden fleece up there! We should go ransack the place so what say you? hahaha *evil grinz*

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## Roadrage

[quote:9f5880e80b="mad scientist"][quote:9f5880e80b="Roadrage"]
Ian seldom mention what is arriving but I can say that the store upstair yields a lot of treasures  :Smug: [/quote:9f5880e80b]


Couldn't agree more on this. We could probably dig up a golden fleece up there! We should go ransack the place so what say you? hahaha *evil grinz*[/quote:9f5880e80b]

I manage to go up there once but it interrupt the spawning of some fishes so after that incident no one is allow upstairs  :Sad:  

Sad to say, I was the one that causes this .

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## hwchoy

[quote:882cbce9e2="Roadrage"]
Can you do me a flavour if you happen to be there, saw a couple of new unidentified tetraa there maybe you can help me ID them ? Thanks[/quote:882cbce9e2]

I am not familiar with south american, MrTree would be the guy to ask. I once got 30 specimens of tetra from him, EACH a different UNDESCRIBED species :P :P :P

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## hwchoy

[quote:44 :drool 1: 08959e="Roadrage"]Well I am very sure they are the ones. There is a mixture of male and female because I notice that the males have red fins and the female don't.

The moment I saw it just now , I immediately remember the picture that choy have posted.[/quote:44 :drool 1: 08959e]

Unless you have seen all the species properly identified and in good condition, i.e. in a planted setting, it is easy to mistake their identity. Also depends on how observant you are.

I have experience with a tank of _Boraras urophthalmoides_ which is showing the red flush, and many people apparently insisted to the owner (not me) that they are _Boraras brigittae_.

IMHO, it is easy to confuse the _Boraras_ sp. with the _Boraras micros_ especially when the former is unconditioned, underfed or small sized. As far as I know the _Boraras_ sp. is not VERY rare in Bangkok but may be seasonal. You could ask Ian whether what you saw were _Boraras micros_ which he labels as polka-dot rasbora (or something to that effect).

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## hwchoy

[quote:38b973ec58="mad scientist"]Mexx: what you saw could be the marculatus which looks very similar (IMO) to the _Boraras_ sp. Saw both species at Eco on Thurs and very frankly, if I hadn't looked closely I couldn't really tell the difference. 

Mr Choy: If I aint mistaken, you were at Ecoculture on Thursday as well yah? Didnt approach you as I wasn't sure. Would be terribly embarassing if I'd gotten the wrong guy.  :Opps: 
[/quote:38b973ec58]

maculatus is from maritime southeast asia and has the characteristic longish body (among _Boraras_ species), whereas the _Boraras_ sp. has the shorter barrel-shaped body of the mainland southeast aisa species. Easy to tell once you know what to look for.

Whats with the Mr. thing huh? Anyway yah I was there over lunch time, Im the guy shouting wheres the bimaculatus?  :Grin:  you could have just ask Azmi  :Smile: 

I went there on a mission to get two species of Indian/Sri Lankan barbs, the _Puntius bimaculatus_ and _Puntius narayani_, and also managed to pick up two nice specimen of _Nemacheilus_ spp. a tiny loach with diamond-shaped pattern on the side. Heres some quick picture (does not do justice to the fishes):

*Puntius bimaculatus*





*Nemacheilus spp.*




*unknown barb*  anyone know what this is?

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## Roadrage

Hi Choy, apparently Ian's supplier does not have the scientific name and they call it mosquito boraras but Mosquito is the common name for briggitae . 

I went to KF to check the fish again this morning and I notice that all the fins are redish in colour . 

Its a real headache trying to differentiate these guys  :Grin:

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## hwchoy

[quote:b67c187629="Roadrage"]Hi Choy, apparently Ian's supplier does not have the scientific name and they call it mosquito boraras but Mosquito is the common name for briggitae . 

I went to KF to check the fish again this morning and I notice that all the fins are redish in colour . 

Its a real headache trying to differentiate these guys  :Grin: [/quote:b67c187629]

well I have posted pics of all the _Boraras_ species except micros here somewhere. check it out.

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## Roadrage

I think I got it right this time  :Smug:  

I went to check it again in the evening and I notice that some of them have the red triming on the dorsal and anal fin. There is also a reddish flush just behind the petoral spot. Bingo  :Grin:

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## mad scientist

eh.... I'm still confused  :Confused:  ....bingo means??? I saw the "polka dotted boraras. definitely not the _Boraras_ sp. 

Choy (happy now? :P) : I kinda thought it was you cos it seems weird that people buy schooling fishies in pairs??! What else could it be for than photographic documentation.  :Smile:  I just thought it to be interesting when you asked for "one darker one and one ligher one". 

So any pics of the _Puntius narayani_? 


And what about the photographic tank I was asking you about the other time?  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

[quote:6e320d0fb6="mad scientist"]eh.... I'm still confused  :Confused:  ....bingo means??? I saw the "polka dotted boraras. definitely not the _Boraras_ sp. [/quote:6e320d0fb6]

I think he meant bingo, it IS the _Boraras_ sp.  :Wink:  BTW I have not seen the fish, any bros and sistahs rushing down and finding the wrong fish please  :Evil:  beat up roadrage  :Angel:  

[quote:6e320d0fb6="mad scientist"]Choy (happy now? :P) : I kinda thought it was you cos it seems weird that people buy schooling fishies in pairs??! What else could it be for than photographic documentation.  :Smile:  I just thought it to be interesting when you asked for "one darker one and one ligher one". 

So any pics of the _Puntius narayani_?

And what about the photographic tank I was asking you about the other time?  :Smile: [/quote:6e320d0fb6]

the LFS I usually goes to already gotten used to it :P in fact some are kind enough to keep or highlight contaminants  :Roll Eyes:  some fishes are so unremarkable the only way youre going to get them is when they are caught and shipped by mistake  :Embarassed:   :Embarassed:   :Embarassed:  hey but I love them all  :Cool:   :Smug:  anyway buy two different ones theres a chance theyre a pair  :Grin:  

the narayani has coloured up, but didnt manage to get an acceptable pic yet, plus theyre still rather young. will let you know when I get it.

erm what about the photo tank ?  :Opps:  its just a betta barrack with a glass cover which I use to put my flash. I spray paint the back with black. May do another one with green or camouflage colour  :Smug:

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## Roadrage

Well Bingo means its the Boraras Sp , Currently there are 3 type of Boraras in KF, Boraras Micro, Briggitae and Boraras Sp  :Smile: 

Choy, how can you instigate the forum members to bash me up  :Knockout:

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## hwchoy

Heh, only those who go there and find the wrong fish  :Laughing:  fastest way to learn to ID fish, either your wallet or your life depends on it.  :Opps:   :Opps:   :Opps:

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## Roadrage

[quote:771c094054="mad scientist"][quote:771c094054="Roadrage"]
Ian seldom mention what is arriving but I can say that the store upstair yields a lot of treasures  :Smug: [/quote:771c094054]


Couldn't agree more on this. We could probably dig up a golden fleece up there! We should go ransack the place so what say you? hahaha *evil grinz*[/quote:771c094054]

Well how can golden fleece be a treasure to KF :P 

Its probably the treasure of all the other LFS  :Grin:  

I think its not possible to find one there but Ian should have no problem spotting the customer that is wearing it  :Evil:

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## Roadrage

[quote:6ee2cb73ba="hwchoy"]Heh, only those who go there and find the wrong fish  :Laughing:  fastest way to learn to ID fish, either your wallet or your life depends on it.  :Opps:   :Opps:   :Opps: [/quote:6ee2cb73ba]


I'm alive  :Laughing:  I'm alive  :Laughing:  I'm alive  :Laughing:

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