Description

Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 13; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10; Vertebrae: 30 - 32. Usually 8 branched dorsal rays; a bluish to greyish body (in life); a dark vertical bar at caudal-fin base and bright orange to red fins in life (Ref. 27732); lacks a mid-dorsal stripe at all ages; large ethmoid spine perpendicular to snout when viewed from above; large mental lobe; young may be iridescent green with numerous narrow black bars (Ref. 12693).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Cypriniformes

Family: Botiidae

Genus: Yasuhikotakia

Species: Yasuhikotakia modesta (Bleeker, 1864)

Climate Zone

Biology

Usually found in large rivers with a muddy substrate (Ref. 27732). Occurs in flooded fields (Ref. 12975). Feeds at night on worms, crustaceans and insects (Ref. 7020). Oviparous (Ref. 205). A strongly migratory species (Ref. 9497). Above the Khone Falls of the Mekong basin, it migrates into tributaries and small streams, where it spawns during the early flood season. When water starts to recede, it moves back to the main tributaries and to the Mekong mainstream. An upstream migration occurs from the Mekong Delta, around the saline intrusion zone to just below the Khone Falls between November and March. This migration is reportedly triggered by receding water levels. From May to July, the species migrates the opposite way, downstream from the Khone Falls to flooded areas in Southern Cambodia and the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam (Ref. 37770). Two individuals reared in captivity were reported to live up to eight years or more wherein one fish attained a size of 210 g and 9.577 cm SL while the other fish reached 200 g and 10.03 cm SL (Eric Baran, pers. comm., 2015).

Habitat

demersal

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless