Fish from Bangkok, Thailand

[timebomb]

can I join the field camp as an observer?

Sure you can, Ronnie. In fact, it was my intention to ask you to come along. We haven't fixed the time yet but it will probably be on Sunday morning. I think it would be a good idea if you bring your camera along.

KL, do contact me as to when I can go over to your place to collect the simplex pair.

Jianyang, you can bring the pair home after Choy has taken their pictures. I would suggest you set up a tank for them now.

I`m also very interested in the endler too.So i`ll queue after Choy

Francis, I will pass some of the Endlers' livebearers to you and Choy when they are old enough to be sexed. I just hope I'm not counting chickens before they hatch

You are very lucky that they come in while you were here. They don't come in often.

Oh yes, the timing was perfect. I was very impressed by the fish shop owner. I don't think I've ever met anyone like him in Singapore. He knew the latin names of all the fishes I bought even though most of them were not from his shop. If he hadn't written the scientific names on the plastic bags for me, it would probably take me forever to find out the names myself.

Loh K L

[Nonn]

Loh,

For the fish shop owner, he may looked down-to-earth but he graduated in Fish Taxonomy. He normally teach at Ubon-rachathani University -a province in the north east- in Fishery Department. He is one of the very few person in Thailand who can properly decribe new fish species. I think he described 2 this year, with Schistura panitvongi coming along the line. He is also a very keen hobbyist.

Nonn

[hwchoy]

Loh,

For the fish shop owner, he may looked down-to-earth but he graduated in Fish Taxonomy. He normally teach at Ubon-rachathani University -a province in the north east- in Fishery Department.

Loh Kwek Leong "got eye don't know or-ee-or"!

sorry for the frivolous post, but I'd let KL explains this expression for the non-Singaporean members

BTW, Nonn, congrats on the new species :P :P :P

[NightHound]

Hi KL,

May i have the simplex from you. I concentrate in keeping wild betta and currently have 9 species with me. Simplex only come in season, so i always have problem getting them. So will appreciate if you could let me have them.

Cheers,
Desmond

[gweesm1]

Hi all,

Looks like I am too late for the simplex.L I just came back from Malaysia with my family. If I am late on replying email, please be patient.

My father in law collected about 7 wild orchids from the jungle and I collected some moss. From the patch of moss I collected, there is bit and pieces of Pellia like plants. Like Pellia it grow in “Y” shape, and it is very brittle. I did not notice them only when I reached Singapore.

I saw some emered form “erect moss” too. It grows in upward manner, unfortunately it was out of reach.

I will start a new tread if the Pellia like moss grow in my tank.

Regards,

[timebomb]

May i have the simplex from you.

Desmond, I'm sorry. The fish have all been spoken for :smile: . Francis took a pair and Jianyang will be taking the other.

Loh K L

[NightHound]

May i have the simplex from you.

Desmond, I'm sorry. The fish have all been spoken for :smile: . Francis took a pair and Jianyang will be taking the other.

Loh K L

Hi K L,

No problem. Must be faster next time.

Cheers,
Desmond

[hwchoy]

Hi Nonn and all,

an excellent day of shooting those fishes Loh brought back from Jatujak. I've just reviewed the pics, we've gotten some pretty good pictures of:

• that little goby fish - can Nonn confirm their species as Loh was pretty sure he was given not quite the right name by that Latin-sprouting "fish-seller"
• your precious Betta simplex
• those Oryzias minutillus
• quite OK pics of the Boraras sp., you're right they're very like the B. micros, except for the pectoral spot which I think was bigger on the micros. But quite definitely nowhere near maculatus.
• some pics of killies (I have to find out their names later) and also some x-rated video of australe making multiple whoopies.

[stormhawk]

Choy, I believe these are Brachygobius mekongensis. I've seen them for sale at C328 and Choong Sua. In fact, I think only the uncle at Choong Sua managed to keep them alive. All of those at C328 were dead when I last checked.

Well there's at least several Brachygobius species native to Thailand.

Brachygobius aggregatus Herre, 1940
Brachygobius mekongensis Larson & Vidthayanon, 2000
Brachygobius nunus Hamilton, 1822
Brachygobius sua Smith, 1931

B. sua is found in the Chao Phraya basin but it attains sizes of 3.0cm.
B. nunus is found in several nations in the region but reaches the max. size of 2.5cm.
B. mekongensis reaches sizes of 1.8cm and is found in the Mekong River system between the countries of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
B. aggregatus is the largest of the lot at 4.4cm max.

On the other hand, we have a native species called Brachygobius xanthomelas Herre, 1937. It reaches the max. size of 2cm. This could also be a contender for the ID of this odd little goby. :wink:

[hwchoy]

temporary pics, just to whet your appetite… :wink:

Betta simplex






Boraras sp.




Brachygobius spp.




Oryzias minutillus

[hwchoy]

stormhawk, the Brachygobius kabiliensis apparently also ranges into the Mekong drainage. So how are we going to confirm the species? Can you find a pic or line drawing of the B. mekongensis?

darn these confounding ichthys

[hwchoy]

I'm not sure of their origin yet. I'm sure they are down south somewhere in the Malay Penisular of Thailand, though.

Just found a Japanese site that gave it an informal name of Boraras sp. 'micros red' which seem to bear out what we're seeing, that it looks like micros but with more red shades on the body and fins. But I would seriously hold judgement on whether it should be considered a sperate species.

Well, still can't find any pics anywhere, so KL, your website is the first in the world to have a pic of the Boraras sp. :wink: :wink: *clap* *clap* *clap*

[stormhawk]

Choy, apparently the Mekong drainage refers to the Mekong delta region. This region is at southern tip of Vietnam. I would consider that B. kabiliensis does not range well into Thailand. I would also consider that this part of its range (Indochina) is restricted to the Mekong delta itself.

Just checked it out, there's a pic of it on the Mangroves of Singapore website. Apparently it's native to Singapore as well.

Online Guidebook to the Mangroves of Singapore

Here's another link to a Japanese page with very good photos of 3 of the Brachygobius species.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/PhD-mukai...us/Brachy.html

[hwchoy]

Just checked it out, there's a pic of it on the Mangroves of Singapore website. Apparently it's native to Singapore as well.

Online Guidebook to the Mangroves of Singapore

why does the glass goby pic looks suspiciously like a Boraras?

[Nonn]

HI Guys,

Choy, nice images of the little guys. I have to say, those fish espeacially the Boraras and Betta simplex has not reach their full beauty potential, though.

The goby is deffinitely a Brachygobius xanthomelas Herre, 1937, according to my new guide book (Fishes of Choapraya River Drianage)

Hey,have you guy even seen a Fresh Water Jelly fish? Check them out here.

http://www.siamensis.org/webboard/Webanswer.asp?id=1356


Also a new species of Stenasellus sp. from Thailand, that me and my friends discovered last year, here..

http://www.pantip.com/cafe/blueplane.../E2608092.html

[timebomb]

Well, still can't find any pics anywhere, so KL, your website is the first in the world to have a pic of the Boraras sp. :wink: :wink: *clap* *clap* *clap*

Great pictures, Choy. If anyone deserves any applause, it's you, my friend. I only brought the fish home, something anyone could have done just as easily too.

Choy, if you want more help in identifying the fish, please feel free to display your pictures in other forums too. I don't have any copyrights to the pictures although I own the fish. Since the Boraras sp. are very rare here, I will try and breed them.

Loh K L

[hwchoy]

KL, couldn't have done it without your fantastic photo tank. I think I will also paint mine black.

As for copyright, there are clear industrial and legal practice, and I think I will follow these in case we're dealing with more contributors (hopeful ) in future from other countries too.

Copyright always reside with the creator of the artifact, in this case the photographer (e.g. you film a really gorgeous girl on the streets and you made a billion dollars selling the pics, it belongs to you. Unless if the photographer is on paid assignment, then the copyright may belong to the photographer or the commissioning party, depending on contract).

Hence I will always put a copyright line for any pictures contributed to me. However to recognise the owner of the fish, I will be putting a "courtesy of" line near my logo. I think this will be a fair practice and also a nice gesture.

[stormhawk]

Nonn, KL, I just found out something about the Betta simplex. It seems the male has a slight injury close to his dorsal fin. Now I didn't realise that when I first placed him into the new tank. This morning I checked on him and found hair fungus growing on his wounds!. He's still quite active but not as active as the female is.

I will try to save the male by trying anti-fungal medications. I'm quite worried for the male. Hopefully the attempt to save him works.

Choy, that Glass Goby pic isn't a Boraras pic. That is a true goby. Look closely at the body shape and placement of fins. Haha, perhaps you need to look closer next time.

[hwchoy]

Choy, that Glass Goby pic isn't a Boraras pic. That is a true goby. Look closely at the body shape and placement of fins. Haha, perhaps you need to look closer next time.

haiz, people with bifocal cannot look very closely you know? anyway the pics are too small!

[timebomb]

I will try to save the male by trying anti-fungal medications.

Jianyang, there are many brands of anti-fungal medication in the market. Many work well but I would caution against using the brand from "you know Hu". There's a brand called Waterlife which is available in some fish shops. They have different medications for different diseases but the one known as Protozin works very well against Velvet and Whitespot disease so I think it should be effective against fungus too.

Clean water helps keep fungus at bay. If I were you, I would change the water more frequently.

Loh K L