Showy hillstream loach

Sewellia speciosa

Also known as Spotted sewellia, Vietnamese porcupine hillstream loach

FreshwaterFish

Showy hillstream loach (Sewellia speciosa) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–75°F (20–24°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 2.6 in (6.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 24 gal (90 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Se Kong drainage, Laos and Vietnam
Family: Gastromyzontidae

Overview

A showy Sewellia kept just like the tiger hillstream loach, down to its willingness to breed: a disc-bodied grazer for a cool, fast, oxygen-rich tank. Keep a group of five or six, and expect males to hold stones and display at one another in mild, shimmying contests. It grazes biofilm and algae, so start it in a mature tank and supplement with fine sinking foods, crushed wafers, and small frozen items. Keep it with small, peaceful, current-loving fish. A tank of around 90 liters with strong flow and a deep bed of rounded gravel suits a group and gives eggs somewhere to lodge.

In the wild

Sewellia speciosa lives in the Se Kong drainage on the border of Laos and Vietnam, fast clear torrents running cool over stone. Give it 20 to 24 C, strong laminar flow, and oxygen kept high through brisk surface movement. Furnish it with broad, smooth grazing stones, a bed of rounded gravel, and hold pH between 6.5 and 7.5.

Good to know

This Sewellia, a hillstream loach in the family Gastromyzontidae, reaches about 6.5 centimeters. Roberts described it in 1998, and the name speciosa means showy, for its contrasting pattern. Like others in the genus it will spawn in a mature river tank, scattering eggs into gravel where they develop out of reach of the adults.

Did you know

Its own describer handed it the Latin word for showy, a rare bit of open praise in scientific naming, for the bright, contrasting pattern it carries.

Tank mates

Showy hillstream loach is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.