May also be seen on sale under the trade names ‘Bala shark’ or ‘tricolor shark minnow’ and perhaps among the most commonly-encountered ornamental fish species. It is unfortunate that the vast majority of those traded are juveniles and tend to come supplied with little to no information provided regarding their potential size and requirements, a fairly ironic situation given the apparently precarious status of wild populations.

The ornamental albino variant is widely-available and has become extremely popular in the hobby and there is a commercially-produced anerythristic (lacking red pigment) mutation that has pale yellowish fins and has sometimes been misidentified as E. munense. Also worthy of note is that the specific name is sometimes misspelled ‘frenatus‘.

Most members of Epalzeorhynchos were formerly regarded as Labeo spp. and are thus referred to as such in older literature. According to Rainboth (1996) they’re characterised by absence of a dorsal spine…

Confusion with similar-looking fishes from other genera, such as Garra cambodgiensis, laterally-striped Crossocheilus spp. or Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is not uncommon, and are largely attributable to the use of trade names such as ‘false flying fox’ or ‘Siamese flying fox’. When compared with the other species E. kalopterus exhibits several unique characters but perhaps the simplest way to identify it is by the characteristic white-edged, red and black coloured fins and the presence of two pairs of barbels.

Most members of Epalzeorhynchos were formerly regarded as Labeo spp. and are thus referred to as such in older literature. According to Rainboth (1996) they’re characterised by absence of a dorsal spine, possession of 10-13 branched dorsal fin rays, a thin membrane connecting the upper and lower lips and rigid, freely moveable rostral lobes.

Epalzeorhynchos itself has undergone some quite recent changes with a handful of species hav…

C. oblongus is another name widely misused in the trade but that species has seemingly never been exported and was described as a blueish fish with yellow fins. It’s native to streams of Gunung Salak mountain in Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia where collecting of ornamental fishes is almost non-existent. Other species of laterally-striped Crossocheilus also exist and may be available from time-to-time but are more easily told apart from the group described above.

One of the most ubiquitous species in the hobby and several ornamental strains are available including ‘long-finned’, ‘golden’, ‘albino’, and ‘super red’, for which care is identical to that of the ‘standard’ fish.

Unfortunately the degree of inbreeding amongst farm-bred stock has resulted in a situation whereby many of the fish available today are genetically weak and prone to disease or develop physical deformities.