Serpent loach

Serpenticobitis octozona

Also known as Eight-band serpent loach

FreshwaterFish

Serpent loach (Serpenticobitis octozona) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 2.6 in (6.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Common
Origin: Mekong basin, southern Laos
Family: Serpenticobitidae

Overview

This small, lively bottom loach is very social and should be kept in a group of six or more, since lone fish or tiny groups get withdrawn or scrappy. Give it a river setup with brisk flow, well-oxygenated water, and plenty of rocky crevices to dart through and divide up between them. It is mostly peaceful and fits a river community with other calm, current-loving fish, wriggling over the substrate with a mix of kuhli-style movement and stone-loach confidence. Feed small sinking foods and frozen invertebrates such as bloodworm and daphnia, with some vegetable matter. A tank of around 75 liters or more suits a group.

In the wild

The serpent loach lives in fast, clear, high-gradient stretches of the Mekong system in southern Laos, over beds of rock and boulders in cool, oxygen-rich water. Recreate that with strong flow, a sand and smooth-stone substrate, and lots of cobble and crevices for cover. Keep it on the cool side of tropical, from 22 to 26 C, at a near-neutral pH of 6.5 to 7.5, with pristine, well-filtered water.

Good to know

Serpenticobitis octozona reaches about 6.5 centimeters and gives its name to its own small family, Serpenticobitidae, which holds just one genus and three species and sits between the true loaches and the stone loaches. Its slim, pale body is ringed by eight dark bars. Its aquarium breeding is not documented, so nothing reliable is known about how it spawns.

Did you know

Its whole family contains only one genus and three species, so keeping a serpent loach means housing an entire small branch of the loach family tree in a single fish.