Genus · Loaches

Kottelatlimia

Kottelatlimia is a genus with 3 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Loaches section, recorded from Indonesia and Malaysia. Adult sizes run from 1.5 in to 5.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
3
Adult sizes
1.5–5.5 in
IUCN assessed
3 of 3 · 1 threatened
Recorded from
2 countries

About the genus

Kottelatlimia is a genus of small eel-loaches in family Cobitidae, related to the kuhli loaches (Pangio) and native to Sundaland - the atlas records it from Indonesia and Malaysia. The genus honors ichthyologist Maurice Kottelat, who has described much of the region's loach diversity. The three atlas species - Kottelatlimia hipporhynchos (the horsenosed loach), K. katik, and K. pristes - span an unusually wide size range for such a small-bodied genus, from 1.5–5.5 in. Like Pangio, Kottelatlimia has an elongate, worm-like, near-scaleless body suited to burrowing and threading through leaf litter and root tangles, and most species are associated with the soft, tannin-stained blackwater of peat-swamp forest streams.

These loaches turn up only occasionally in the hobby, mostly through specialist blackwater and peat-swamp importers rather than general fish stores, and husbandry generally follows the kuhli-loach template - soft, acidic, well-shaded water with a fine sand substrate and plenty of cover. K. hipporhynchos stands out for an elongated, horse-like snout, an adaptation whose exact function is not well documented. Conservation status is mixed: two atlas species are Least Concern, while the third is Vulnerable, a reminder that Sundaland's peat-swamp forests - among the most heavily logged and drained habitats in Southeast Asia - are under serious pressure.

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable · 1 Least Concern · 2

The 3 species

Every Kottelatlimia recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Kottelat & Tan, 2008

Horsenosed loach

2 in SL · LC

(Kottelat & Lim, 1992)

5.5 in SL · LC

(Roberts, 1989)

1.5 in SL · VU

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Kottelatlimia. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/kottelatlimia/

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