Botia kubotai, also known as
Botia 'angelicus' (incorrectly), was officially described and named by Kottelat in January of 2004 (
Zootaxa 401: 1-18). They come from the Ataran River basin in the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Asia.
From the above-named paper:
Botia kubotai is distinguished from all other species of the genus by its unique body colour pattern with three black stripes and five black bars leaving four pairs of elongate, yellow blotches; with increasing age, the bars and stripe widen, the yellow blotches become more slender and rows of small yellow spots are added in the stripes and bars.
I've had a couple of these loaches for almost two months and have made the following observations:
1) In behavior,
Botia kubotai is similar to the Yo-Yo Loach (
Botia almorhae). That is to say that these loaches are not strictly nocturnal and will become relatively active during the day once they are acclimated to their aquarium. Also like Yo-Yo (and many other) loaches,
Botia kubotai is fairly social and does best when there are more than one in the aquarium. They can be aggressive with other loaches but I've not seen any harm done in any of their battles.
2)
Botia kubotai will feed on practically anything. Mine eat frozen bloodworms (favorite food), frozen Tubifex worms, frozen Daphnia, algae wafers (occasionally) and flake food.
3) Like most loaches,
Botia kubotai is not overly demanding as to water conditions as long as the water is clean and changed regularly (I do 25% per week religiously).
4)
Botia kubotai, like its close relatives, will assume all sorts of resting positions, including on its side and on its back. This can give the aquarist quite a fright until he/she gets used to it.
5)
Botia kubotai appreciates having a hiding place available where it can get out of sight on occasion. I keep mine in a heavily-planted tank with some rock caves in the company of multiple other types of loaches.
Hope this helps!!
