The ayumodoki or kissing loach (Parabotia curtus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Botiidae.[3]
It is found in lakes and streams on Honshu, the largest island in Japan.[4] Spawning grounds for kissing loach are ditches and small reservoirs for rice cultivation of a river system located in Japan. The kissing loach migrates to flooded areas, including paddy field areas, for spawning in early summer and the spawning of this species is limited after the formation of flooded areas over terrestrial vegetation.[5][1] These flooded areas are the result of water from mountain streams and irrigation ponds flooding once dry land which create creating man-made wetlands.[6][7] As, adults, Parabotia curtus migrate from these flooded paddy fields to fast moving, muddy streams and rivers like the Yodo River.[3]
^Abe, Tsukasa; Sakamoto, Tatsuya (2011). "Embryonic development and larval behavior of the kissing loach (Parabotia curta): adaptations to an ephemeral, hypoxic environment". Ichthyological Research. 58 (3): 238–244. Bibcode:2011IchtR..58..238A. doi:10.1007/s10228-011-0217-3. S2CID19129495.