The Clown loach, formerly Botia macracanthus, has been given a new name.
Dr Maurice Kottelat of the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore has erected a new genus, called Chromobotia, for the Clown loach, type species Cobitis macracanthus.
Kottelat discusses the systematics of other botiine loaches in a paper published in a recent issue of Zootaxa, and also says that the genus Hymenophysa should now be called Syncrossus instead, as it's a synonym.
The loach that's being sold in the UK as Botia sp. "Myanmar" is also described as B. kubotai, in honour of collector K. Kubota.
The reshuffling places the botiines in the following genera: Chromobotia macracanthus; Syncrossus beauforti, S. helodes, S. berdmorei, S. hymenophysa and S. reversa; Botia almorhae, B. birdi, B. macrolineata B. striata, B. dario, B. kubotai, B. histrionica; Yasuhikotakia eos, Y. caudopunctata, Y. lecontei, Y. longidorsalis, Y. modesta, Y. morleti, Y. splendida, Y. nigrolineata and Y. sidthimunki; Syncrossus beauforti, S. berdmorei, S. helodes, S. reversa and S. hymenophysa; Sinibotia longiventralis; S. pulchra; S. reevesii; S. robusta and S. superciliaris; Leptobotia elongata,
L. flavolineata, L. guiliensis, L. orientalis, L. pellegrini, L. zebra, L. taeniops, L. hengyangensis, L. posterodorsalis
L. rubrilabris, L. tchangi and L. tientainensis; and in the genus Parabotia, P. banarescui, bimaculata, dubia, fasciata, lijangensis and maculosa.
For more details see: Kottelat, M. (2004) - Botia kubotai, a new species of loach (Teleostei: Cobitidae) from Ataran River basin, Myanmar, with comments on botiine nomenclature and diagnosis of a new genus. Zootaxa 401: 1-18.