Lepidocephalichthys hasselti
# Lepidocephalichthys hasselti

Lepidocephalichthys hasselti is a species of cobitid loach native to southeastern Asia and western Indonesia. This species reaches a length of 45 millimetres (1.8 in) TL.

Named in honor of Dutch physician and biologist Johan Coenraad van Hasselt (1797-1823), who while exploring the colonial Dutch East Indies in 1820 provided an illustration of this species. Hasselt traveled with his friend Heinrich Kuhl.

## Diagnosis

According to Kottelat & Lim 1992, L. hasselti is distinguished from other described species of Lepidocephalichthys in Southeast Asia in usually having an ocellated black spot centered at base of branched caudal rays 3–4; or it replaced by black or darker area. Its size is up to 45 mm SL; body with a median longitudinal stripe or a row of adjacent black spots, with an unpigmented stripe above it, back marmorated, finely spotted or blotched. Caudal fin with series (usually 3–6) of vertical bars; dorsal origin above posterior extremity of pelvic base.

## Range and conservation status

It has a widespread distribution: Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Yunnan; southward through Peninsular Malaysia to western Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo and Java). IUCN listed it as LC (Least Concern).

## Footnotes

* Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Lepidocephalichthys hasselti" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
* ↑ Kottelat, M. (2012): Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). Archived 2013-02-11 at the Wayback Machine The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Suppl. No. 26: 1-199.
* ↑ Cuvier, G. & A. Valenciennes. 1846. Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome XVIII: 74. Paris :Chez P. Bertrand, Libraire de la Société Géologique de France.
* ↑ Bleeker, P. 1860. Ichthyologiae Archipelagi Indici Prodromus vol. II Cyprini: 71. Bataviae: Typis Langei &soc. (English transl.)
* ↑ Roberts, T.R.. 1993. "The freshwater fishes of Java, as observed by Kuhl and van Hasselt in 1820-2." Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden), 285: 25, & Fig. 28.
* ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order CYPRINIFORMES: Families BOTIIDAE, VAILLANTELLIDAE and COBITIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
* ↑ Kottelat, M. & K.K.P. Lim. 1992. "A synopsis of the Malayan species of Lepidocephalichthys, with descriptions of two new species (Teleostei: Cobitidae)". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 40(2): 201-220.
* ↑ Allen, D. 2013. Lepidocephalichthys hasselti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 February 2015.
