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Will the real SAE please swim forward?



	I did a little research on the genus Crossocheilus and here is
what I came up with. Let me first reiterate that cyprinids are not my
specialty. My area is Asian catfishes and my interest in Crossocheilus was
peaked when I found out that a Crossocheilus sp. (C. pseudobagroides) is a
mimic of the catfish Pelteobagrus ornatus. However, that is another
story...
	The two SAEs that I am keeping really do chow down on black hair
algae. I honestly do not know what all species of algae this includes
since my brain only has enough room for the scientific names of fishes and
plants and I never plan on taking up algae farming as a hobby (thanks to
my SAEs).
	Tyson Roberts included three spp. of Crossocheilus in his book
"The Freshwater Fishes of Western Borneo" (California Academy of Sciences,
1989 ISBN 0,940228,21,1). One of these sp. is undescribed. Looking at the
photo all three fishes look exactly like what we call the SAE in the
hobby. The key to the genus uses such distinctions as "rostral cap with
14-15 fimbriae" so you can see how useful this is to the hobbyist with a
live fish. All of the "usual" guides that we use to tell the SAE from its
look-a-likes (such as the stripe goes through the caudal fin and above the
black stripe there is no yellow stripe) are the same between these fish.
	Tyson Roberts only noted one Crossocheilus sp. in his "Freshwater
Fishes of Java" (Leiden: Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, 1993 ISBN
90-73239-17-6). The book only contains a water color painting of this fish
so it is not very useful. An interesting note is that Kottelat and Lim in
the "Freshwater Fishes of Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam" do not mention
any spp. of Crossocheilus. Inger and Kong also make no mention of
Crossocheilus spp in "The Freshwater Fishes of North Borneo". I do not
know if this means that the genus is restricted to Western Borneo. I have
no information on Crossocheilus on the main land (i.e. the SE Asian
Peninsula). Liisa mentioned that someone was doing an article on the genus
right now. Until they publish, there will be unanswered questions.
However, there may be some truth to the theory that atleast two spp. of
Crossocheilus are being imported. One that likes hair algae and one that
does not.
			-Shane

I decided to stop drinking with creeps.
I decided to drink only with friends.
I've lost 30 pounds.
		- Ernest Hemingway