Leveretti Beaufortia (Beaufortia leveretti) Breeding Guide

Breeding overview for Beaufortia leveretti, a Chinese hillstream loach with no recorded aquarium spawning; honest genus-level notes.

Overview

Beaufortia leveretti is a hillstream loach of the family Gastromyzontidae. According to FishBase it is distributed in China and Vietnam, with adults inhabiting mountain streams with gravel bottoms in tropical waters of about 18-24 °C. It reaches a maximum length of around 12 cm. Like other Beaufortia, it has horizontally oriented paired fins and fused pelvic fins forming a sucking cup for clinging to rocks in fast water.

Sexing

In Beaufortia, sexes are distinguished mainly by body shape, as documented for the congener Beaufortia kweichowensis: females are comparatively broad and heavy-framed with a snout flowing continuously into the pectoral fins, while males are slighter with a squarer snout and pectoral fins set at right angles to the body.

Common Challenges

The genus requires fast, highly oxygenated, cool water over a rocky, biofilm-coated substrate. Because captive spawning of Beaufortia leveretti has not been recorded and its reproductive biology is poorly known, any breeding attempt is experimental and should aim to replicate the natural gravel-bottom mountain stream.