Photo: Lerdsuwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Burmese border loach
Botia kubotai
15 cm
Adult size
300 L
Minimum volume
5
Minimum group
12 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Botia
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
Named after Katsuma Kubota, this marbled botia was on sale even before it was described in 2004, under names such as “Botia angelicus” or “marbled loach”. It belongs to the B. histrionica complex.
- Scientific name
- Botia kubotai Kottelat, 2004
- Classification
- Cypriniformes › Botiidae
- IUCN Red List
- Data deficient (DD)
Natural habitat
Upper Salween basin, on the Myanmar–Thailand border
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in forest-shaded headwater streams with a fairly slow current and clear, well-oxygenated water, over sand and rocks scattered with wood and leaf litter.
Behaviour
Active and sociable, it is kept in a group; it can intimidate small fish and nip long fins. It lives well with midwater cyprinids. Mostly carnivorous (molluscs, insects, worms), it takes dry and frozen food and also eats soft plants.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth