Tamang Borneo sucker

Hypergastromyzon humilis

Also known as Flat Borneo sucker

FreshwaterFish

Tamang Borneo sucker (Hypergastromyzon humilis) — 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: 1.8 in (4.6 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Kapuas basin, Kalimantan, Indonesia
Family: Gastromyzontidae

Overview

A tiny, extremely flattened Borneo sucker built for one thing: gripping stone in hard, warm current. Nothing about it works in still water, so it needs a mature river tank with real flow and a peaceful group of five or six. Its food is mostly the biofilm it rasps from rock, backed up by the finest sinking foods it will take, so an established, algae-rich tank matters most. Keep it with small, gentle fish that share its taste for fast, warm, clean water. A tank of around 75 liters with strong flow and plenty of grazing stone keeps this rarely-seen fish in good order.

In the wild

Hypergastromyzon humilis lives in the Kapuas river system of Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, pressed to stone in warm, rushing water. Recreate that with 22 to 26 C, strong flow, and oxygen held near saturation through heavy surface movement. Use smooth, water-worn stones carrying algae, a fine sand and gravel base, and keep pH between 6.5 and 7.5.

Good to know

This is the type species of Hypergastromyzon, a genus of hillstream loaches in the family Gastromyzontidae whose name means beyond Gastromyzon, for paired fins even larger than those of the ordinary Borneo suckers. Tyson Roberts described it in 1989 from the Kapuas basin; the name humilis means low or close to the ground, for its extremely flattened body. It reaches only about 4.6 centimeters, and its breeding is unrecorded.

Did you know

Both of its names point at the same extreme: the genus means beyond Gastromyzon and the species means low to the ground, together marking a fish flattened even further than the already pancake-flat Borneo suckers.