Chordates • Earth.com

Zebra loach

(Botia striata)

galery

Description

Named this way for the 12-15 black bands that,like those of the zebra,descend down the back,the zebra cephaloph is a small,short-bodied antelope;it measures 85-90 cm in length and weighs 9-20 kg.The color of the coat varies from light golden to reddish brown,with light cream-colored lower regions.Another distinctive feature is the lack of a tuft on the forehead,present in almost all other species of cephalopha.Both males and females have short tapered horns used to defend the territory;although females are generally larger than males,the latter possess longer horns.The young have a bluish coloring of the adults and stripes closer together.The name afrikaans duiker,with which the cephalopods are indicated,means «diver» or «diver antelope»,and refers to the leaps that these animals perform in the undergrowth when they are disturbed.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Actinopterygii
Order:Cypriniformes
Family:Cobitidae
Genus:Botia
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