Botia almorhae Gray, 1831

Open encyclopedia reference

The yoyo loach, Almora loach or Pakistani loach (Botia almorhae) is a freshwater fish belonging to the loach family Botiidae. It originates in the slow-running and still waters of the Ganges basin in northern India and possibly Nepal. Despite the alternative common name Pakistani loach, the true B. almorhae is not known from Pakistan (the species in this country is B. birdi).

It may attain a length of 14–16 cm (5.5–6.3 in), and is named for its dark and pale patterns, which often can be seen to spell "yoyo" (especially in smaller/younger specimens), hence the common name yoyo loach. The final common name, Almora loach, refers to Almora in Uttarakhand, India. Specimens labelled as B. almorhae are commonly found in the aquarium trade, but most (if not all) of these appear to be the closely related B. lohachata, two possibly undescribed species popularly referred to as B. sp. "Kosi" and B. sp. "Teesta", or hybrids.

Wikipedia contributors, Yoyo loach; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:11:21.241915+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Botia almorhae Gray, 1831

Name authority

Gray, 1831

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Cypriniformes

Family

Botiidae

Genus

Botia

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderCypriniformes
11. familyBotiidae Berg, 1940
12. subfamilyBotiinae Berg, 1940
13. genusBotia Gray, 1831
14. speciesBotia almorhae Gray, 1831

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Botia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 54 records assigned to Botiidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Gray, J. E. (1831). Description of twelve new genera of fish, discovered by Gen. Hardwicke, in India, the greater part in the British Museum. Zoological Miscellany, 1831: 7–9. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:5X2KM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.