[wip] Otocinclus

* Related post : [wallpaper] Otocinclus

There are probably many people who don't know about this fish.

Among those who raise fish, they are quite famous as Algae eater. 

This is a picture of the three Otos I had in 2007-8.

They are small, about 2-3 cm long, very gentle fish, and eat brown moss.

I loved them so much that I even created characters based on their concepts.

He was a cleaner and a friend of fish and shrimp. It was a kind of comic book project I did in my first year of college, and the genre was a romantic comedy 😅  It was painted 15-16 years ago, so the art style is quite different.... Somewhere in a parallel universe, I might be drawing comics like this.

I still miss otos and shrimp every time I remove the moss from my tank.

Anyway, here are some drawings.

Their mouths are just super cute by my standards, but for people who don't know about these fish, drawing their mouth too realistically might be a little creepy.

Their gills appear to be a very pretty pink color and I expressed as hearts.

They have a nice protective coloration, which is mostly brown tones. Since it likes abundant aquatic plants, a green background will suit it.

I chose some famous aquatic plants for the background picture. Although the background is almost invisible to make the fish stand out, Otos will feel comfortable :D

As I was drawing, I thought they looked too similar to Corydoras in somehow. As a searching internet, that there are actually live with Corydoras, and that some species have Batesian mimics.

**Wikipedia link : Batesian mimicry 

Otocinclus mimulus 

A tasty fish imitates a tasteless fish, or a non-poisonous creature imitates a poisonous creature. Corydoras are hardy skin and unpopular with predators, so some Otocinclus mimic their Juvenile appearance.

I was so surprised to learn this fact. Somehow, I immediately understood why Otocinclus was super cute to me, who loves Corydoras the most 😂

Batmani's name comes from the fact that the bat pattern on its tail resembles that of Batman 😁

Thank you!