Eyespotted Borneo sucker

Gastromyzon ocellatus

Also known as Ocellated Borneo sucker, Eye spot Borneo sucker loach

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–77°F (20–25°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 2.1 in (5.4 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Sadong basin, southern Sarawak, Malaysia
Family: Gastromyzontidae

Overview

A small, peaceful Borneo sucker that grips stone in fast water and spends its time grazing the film of algae on hard surfaces. Keep a group of five or six over a spread of smooth rocks; it ignores tankmates and its own kind alike, apart from the odd harmless jockeying for a good grazing spot. Feed it by maturing the tank so biofilm is always available, then supplement with fine sinking foods and crushed algae wafers. Its companions should be small, calm fish that thrive in the same strong flow and will not compete hard at the bottom. A tank of around 75 liters gives the group room to graze and settle.

In the wild

This sucker lives in the clear hill streams of the Sadong basin in southern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, where the water is warm, fast and oxygen-rich over smooth stone. Match that with 20 to 25 C, strong current, and high oxygen through vigorous surface movement. Use rounded, algae-covered rocks for grazing, a base of sand and fine gravel, and keep pH mildly acidic to neutral at 6.5 to 7.5.

Good to know

Gastromyzon ocellatus is a member of the hillstream loach family Gastromyzontidae and reaches about 5.4 centimeters. Tan and Ng described it in 2004, and the name ocellatus means bearing small eyes, a reference to the ring-shaped, eye-like spots scattered across its back. Nothing has been published on its captive breeding.

Did you know

Ring-shaped eye-spots like these turn up all over the animal world as a way to pull a predator's strike toward a false target; on this small loach they also make it one of the easier Borneo suckers to identify on the glass.

Tank mates

Eyespotted Borneo sucker is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.