Ayumodoki

The ayumodoki or kissing loach (Parabotia curtus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Botiidae. It is found in lakes and streams on Honshu, the largest island in Japan. 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. These flooded areas are the result of water from mountain streams and irrigation ponds flooding once dry land and creating man-made wetlands. As adults, Parabotia curtus migrate from these flooded paddy fields to fast moving, muddy streams and rivers like the Yodo River.

== Physical description == The kissing loach has an elongated body that is colored a deep dark brown dorsally with lighter brown vertical stripes extending down the sides. The head is compressed and is pointed in the front where six barbels are located on the underside of the head near the mouth. They have large gill openings, a moderately forked caudal fin with dark stripes, lobate pectoral fins, and a lateral line present starting close to the operculum and stretching to the base of the caudal fin.