NEWS107
6
Garracambodgiensis,
youngmale.
represent an improvement in knowledge.
In addition, in 2000 ichthyologistMaurice
Kottelat established that
Crossocheilussia-
mensis
corresponds toagreat extentwith
aspecies thatwasdescribedas
Crossochei-
lus oblongus
by JohanCoenraad vanHas-
selt as longagoas 1823, iemore than100
yearsbefore
C.siamensis
,anddeclared the
two species tobe synonymous.So theSia-
meseAlgaeEater isnowusuallyknownas
Crossocheilus oblongus
.Unfortunately, ho-
wever, it isn't very likely that thingswill re-
main thus for long.In2009,inastudyof the
fishes of the BatangHari river in Sumatra,
TanHeok Hui andMaurice Kottelat esta-
blished, during the description of a new
Crossocheilus
(
C.obscurus
), from that river,
that thereareapparentlyawhole seriesof
differentspecies in thegenus,allverysimi-
lar inexternal appearance.And that inclu-
des
Crossocheilus oblongus
. This species
was originallydescribed from species,but
unfortunately at present nobody knows
what live
Crossocheilus
from Java look like,
as importantdetailscanno longerbeseen
in thealmost200yearsoldmuseumspeci-
mensof
C.oblongus
andno specimensare
beingexported fromJava for theaquarium
hobby. But one thing is sure: Smithwrote
that
C. siamensis
exhibits only one pair of
barbels and actually examined his speci-
menveryclosely in this respect,as theonly
other
Epalzeorhynchus
species (
E.kalopte-
rus
) known tohim in1931has twopairsof
barbels and this character had evenbeen
used in thegeneric diagnosis of
Epalzeor-
hynchus
. But, as can clearly be seen in the
photo, the SiameseAlgae Eatersmaintai-
ned inour aquaria have twopairs of bar-
bels. For the time being, at least, there is
much to suggest that the Siamese Algae
Eaters that swim in their thousands in
aquaria all over theworldbelong to an as
yetundescribed species,new to science!
Unimportantdetails?
Many peoplemay think all this is just nit-
picking.Twoor fourbarbels,does itmatter?
Dowe really need to alter names for that
reasonandmakeeverythingcomplicated?
Well, that is quite simply a matter of
viewpoint.TigerandLiondiffer in far fewer
characters comparatively speaking, just in
the colorationof their hides and through
male lionsdevelopingamane. It is impos-
sible to tell a skinned Tiger apart from a
skinned Lion unless DNA analysis is em-
ployed. But despite this nobody seriously
doubts that Lion andTiger are twodiffe-
rent species.The studyof small freshwater
fishes is infinitelymore difficult than that
of largemammals.Without the aquarium
hobby nothing at all would be known
about themajorityof fish species beyond
the fact that theyexist.Unfortunately ani-
mal and plant species are becoming ex-
tincteverydayasa resultofenvironmental
changes causedbyhumans.Their loss can
becompared to thedestructionofamajor
work of art such as theMona Lisa.Obvio-
usly there are innumerable reproductions
of theMonaLisa,but theoriginal painting
isandwillalways remainunique.Thesame
applies to animal species. Even if they
maybe appear unspectacular tous exter-
nally, theyare stillmasterpiecesofMother
Natureandevery species is totallyunique
in its own special way.Hence the studyof
biodiversity, before it is too late, is one of
themost important concernsofour times.
Where freshwater fishes are concerned,
aquariumobservationsareanalmost indis-
pensablepartof theprocess.
Garracambodgiensis,
young female.
