> Cypriniformes (Carps) > Nemacheilidae (Brook loaches)
Etymology: Schistura: Greek, schizein = to divide + Greek, oura = tail; an allusion to forked caudal fins

Schistura kaysonei, the Laotian cave loach, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Schistura. It is endemic to Laos where only found in streams in caves. Like other cave-adapted fish, it is blind and has little pigmentation. This troglobitic species has been recorded from only a single cave in a karstlandscape in Khammouane Province in Laos. Here it can be found around 100m from the cave entrance and its diet is thought to be organic detritus, such as bat guano, and micro-organisms.

It is threatened by a decline in the quality and quantity of the water flowing through the cave, caused by deforestation and increased agriculture, as well as potential overfishing for the aquarium trade.

The specific name honours Kaysone Phomvihane (1920-1992), who was president of Laos.

Actinopteri (ray-finned fishes) > Anabantiformes (Gouramies, snakeheads) > Channidae (Snakeheads)
Etymology: Channa: Greek, channe, -es = an anchovy

Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822), the dwarf snakehead, is a small-sized species of snakehead, found in various kinds of freshwater habitats, e.g., hill streams, swamps and paddy fields; it is usually hidden under submerged aquatic plants or boulders.

Channa gachua is readily distinguished from the other Mekong congeners by its smaller size, small ventral fin (shorter than half of the pectoral fin), dusky barred pattern on the basal half of the pectoral fin, and an orange or yellowish distal margin of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins in adults.

Channa gachua is known as a widely-distribuetd species, but the currently-recognized C. gachua is presumed to comprise more than one species

Actinopteri (ray-finned fishes) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Danionidae (Danios) > Danioninae
Etymology: Devario: Bangla/Bengali:‘debari’, local name for these fishes; also meaning ‘brother in law’

Devario Laoensis (Pellegrin & Fang, 1940), a medium-sized, deep-bodied species of danio, found in swift clear streams.

The photographed specimen shownhere was collected from the karst of Khammouane, central Laos.

Anomura, Brachyura, Eubrachyura, Potamidae, Ortmann, 1896 Erebusa, new genus.

Erebusa Calobates (Erebusa Yeo & Ng, 1999), stilt-walker from the nether world" is a new genus and species of troglobitic potamid crab from central Laos. The new taxon possesses a unique combination of morphological characters not found in any other known fresh-water crabs.

The generic name is derived from Erebus, latin for a place of darkness in the nether world, alluding to the cavernicolous habits of the sole member of the genus.

Key diagnostic characters include the compressed frontal regions, reduced eyes, auriculiform merus of the third maxilliped, long ambulatory legs, and unusual male first pleopod structure.

The reduced eyes and extremely long slender legs make this species the most highly modified cave-dwelling crab reported thus far from Indochina.

Darren C. J. Yeo and Peter K. L. Ng - Journal of crustacean biology 19(4): 908-916, 1999

> Tetrapoda > Amphibia > Gymnophiona > Ichthyophiidae

Ichthyophis bannanicus, the Banna caecilian, from Latin caecus (“blind”), is a species of amphibians in the family Ichthyophiidae found in southern China, northern Vietnam, Myanmar and northern Laos. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, plantations, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest, irrigated land, and seasonally flooded agricultural land. It is threatened by habitat loss.

> Cypriniformes (Carps) > Nemacheilidae (Brook loaches)
Etymology: Schistura: Greek, schizein = to divide + Greek, oura = tail; an allusion to forked caudal fins