Erethistes longisimma Ng & Kottelat 2007
Erethistes longisimma is a Erethistini found in the Irrawaddy river
drainage system; Kachin state, Myanmar, and used to be, and in some
circles still is, referred to as Hara filamentosa; mainly due to it
having a exceedingly long extension to the top ray of the caudal
fin, which was diagnosed as a prominent feature by Blyth in 1860 in
his description of Hara filamentosa, however, Erethistes (Hara)
filamentosa as diagnosed by Ng & Kottelat (2007) comes from an
area further south and a different drainage
system.
Of all the Erethistini Erethistes longisimma except Erethistes
jerdoni has the longest body to width ratio. The head being quite
broad, rising at a 45º angle unto the basal bone, and then gently
slopes downwards to the caudal peduncle. Running parallel either
side of the lateral line are rows of very fine granulations; that
when the fish is in good condition may go un-noticed to the naked
eye. The colour and markings of these catfishes can vary slightly
from specimen to specimen, but generally speaking, the body is
coloured dark brown, which has lighter brown blotches or mottling
to it, with two-chevron type light brown bands running vertically
through the body, the first being just posterior of the anterior
edges of the dorsal and ventral fins with the second being
posterior to the adipose and anal fins. The dorsal fin is mainly
dark brown in colour and having a clear crenulation type posterior
edge to it, with the adipose fin being similarly coloured. The
caudal fin is generally clear, apart from a brown crescent shaped
marking which commences from the caudal peduncle, and with the two
lobes having brown borders to them and having a long filamentous
extension to the upper ray. The anal and ventral fins have
alternating bands of hyaline and dark brown, the pectoral fins The
pectoral fin are generally brown with clear posterior edges to
them, with a white tips at their ends; there is a clear band arcing
away from just under halfway on the anterior edge and ending where
the posterior edge meets the body.
On some occasions when this catfish have found their way into our
local stores, they can be a rich ruddy brown in colour, this is in
all probability due to seasonal changes in their diet, this rich
ruddy colour usually disappears in the home aquarium. Feeding them
upon copious amounts of live Artemia nauplii, especially the type
that shows a rich vibrant orange colour to them helps to regain
this rich ruddy brown colouration.
A substrate of fine sand, having some broad leaved plants and
interspersed with varying sizes of pebbles and small rocks and
having pieces of bog-wood with plants attached make an ideal
habitat for these peaceful catfish. Similar sized non-to boisterous
fish like Trichogaster leeri and Rasbora reticulata make excellent
tank mates.
Again like most Erethistini good water quality is a must if one
wishing to keep these unassuming catfishes for any length of time
and tend not to tolerate nitrate levels over 12.5mg/l.
Preferably a diet of live foods such as Bloodworms, white worms,
grindal worms and daphnia should be provided as they tend not to
feed on commercial prepared foods, although they will accept frozen
foods such as blood worms and cyclops.
Synonyms
Hara
longissima - Hara filamentosa