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Family of fishes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 in 2012.[1] The family includes about 56 species.
| Botiidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tiger loach Syncrossus berdmorei | |
 | |
| Zebra loach (Botia striata) with the fusiform shape typical of Botiidae | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Superfamily: | Cobitoidea |
| Family: | Botiidae L. S. Berg, 1940 |
| Genera[1] | |
The Botiids are more robust than most of their relatives in Cobitidae and tend to have a more or less arched back, yielding an altogether more fusiform shape. Botiids typically have a pointed snout of intermediate length, while many cobitids are remarkably stub-nosed.
Botiids are generally fairly small, with maximum lengths between 6 and 30 cm (2.4 and 11.8 in) depending on the species involved, although Leptobotia elongata reaches 50 cm (20 in)[2] (Chromobotia macracanthus has been claimed to reach a similar size, but this would be exceptional).[3]
Many of the more brightly colored species are popular with freshwater aquarists, so are of importance in the aquarium trade. Botiidae often encountered in aquarium trade include:
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