This species is rare in the aquarium trade, increasingly so in nature and as a result prohibitively expensive when available. Given its adult size and probable longevity this is therefore a species for the specialist possessing the necessary time, money and dedication to house it long term.

At time of writing there exist 18 recognised members of the genus though only B. kweichowensis is well-known in the trade with B. szechuanensis unlikely to have been exported. According to Chen, Huang and Yang (2009) it can be distinguished from similar congeners by the following suite of characters: 1 branched and 17-20 simple pectoral-fin rays…

This species may not yet have been seen in the aquarium trade outside its native country but has been maintained by a few private collectors.

There are currently three species recognised in the genus, all endemic to the Yangtze river drainage, and they’re separated from other balitorids by a combination of characters including: relatively long, deeply-forked caudal-fin; roun…

This species is traded under various names including ‘Chinese banded shark’, ‘Chinese sucker’, ‘freshwater batfish’, ‘high-fin banded loach’, etc. It’s currently illegal to import or own privately in several countries, including the UK, but continues to be available with only the attractive juvenile form traded, and almost always without information regarding adult size of almost a metre or potential lifepan of 25 years+.

Myxocyprinus is a monotypic genus and the only Asian representative of the family Cato…

M. opercularis is a classic aquarium fish, having been introduced to the hobby by a French soldier named Gerault in 1869. Of the initial 100 specimens shipped, 22 survived and were successfully bred later that same year by another Frenchman, the Parisian Pierre Carbonnier. This gives the species the distinction of being one of the very first ornamental fish imported to Europe. It is also known as ‘Chinese fighting fish’, ‘paradise gourami’, and ‘blue paradise fish’.