Tri Band Sumo Loach

About

The Tri Band Sumo Loach (Schistura balteata) is a small but assertive bottom-dweller from the fast-flowing streams of Myanmar, belonging to one of the most species-rich groups of loaches on the planet. Identification can be tricky because a similar, apparently still-unnamed relative is frequently sold under the same trade names. True S. balteata is distinguished by two dark vertical bars beneath the dorsal fin, a series of rounded spots along the dorsal surface ahead of that fin, and a clean caudal base with no dark bar crossing it. That look-alike shows pinkish or yellowish bars and a full dark band across the tail base, so it pays to look closely before buying. In the aquarium this species is best described as territorial rather than outright aggressive, but that distinction matters less to a finnicky tankmate on the receiving end of a chase. Slow or long-finned fish and placid bottom-dwellers like corydoras tend to fare poorly with it. Active mid-water swimmers, danios, rasboras, pethia, make far better companions and actually seem to draw this naturally shy fish out into the open more often. A group of S. balteata can be kept together provided the tank is well-furnished with rockwork and broken sightlines, giving each individual somewhere to claim as its own. Breeding has not been documented in captivity.