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Pseudolaguvia shawi (Hora 1921)

Image contributors to this species:

Adrian Taylor (2) Beta Mahatvaraj (4) Andrew Rao (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

P. shawi inhabits rapid running waters at the base of hills, in which it maintains itself by means of a corrugated thoracic disc, which acts as an adhesive apparatus. Aquarium Care: A tank with a sandy bottom and rounded stones and pebbles with a good water flow as befits an asian hillstream setup. Good water quality is a must for this family. Keep the water temperature on the cool side of a tropical aquarium. Tank mates such as the zebra danio (Brachydanio rerio) and asian fish such as Rasboras of the same small size will make good tankmates. Diet: Feeds on small invertebrates. Prefers live foods such as bloodworm, grindle worm, daphnia and Artemia naupli. Etymology: Pseudolaguvia, Pseudo-, false; i.e., although this genus may superficially resemble several “closely allied” genera, including Laguvia (a junior synonym of Erethistes), such an appearance is false. The species epithet shawi is in honour of government quinologist (one who grows cinchona trees for quinine, an early antimalarial) and naturalist G. E. Shaw, who collected the type specimen.

Common Name:

Bee cat, Asian mini bee cat

Synonyms:

Glyptothorax shawi, Laguvia shawi

Family:

Sisoridae

Distribution:

Asia: Darjeeling, Siliguri Terai and Sikkim in India. Reported from Bangladesh.

Size:

4.5cm (1¾ins)

Temp:

20-24°C (68-75°F)

p.H.

6.5-7.4.

IUCN Red List

Although the global population size and its trends for Pseudolaguvia shawi are not known, this is a relatively abundant species in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Current levels of collection for the aquarium trade is not high enough to threaten populations. It is therefore assessed as Least Concern here, but it should be noted that reassessment may be necessary should taxonomic studies discover the presence of more than one species in material currently identified as P. shawi, and needs to be updated, (IUCN 2010).

Reference:

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2023. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 02/2023 ).
Ng, H.H. and M. Kottelat, 2005. Caelatoglanis zonatus, a new genus and species of the Erethistidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from Myanmar, with comments on the nomenclature of Laguvia and Hara species. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 16(1):13-22.
Ng, H.H. 2010. Pseudolaguvia shawi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.
The ETYFish Project. Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

Family: Sisoridae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Pseudolaguvia shawi

Pseudolaguvia shawi

Pseudolaguvia shawi
Head view

Pseudolaguvia shawi

Pseudolaguvia shawi
Dorsal view

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