Details
Chromobotia macracanthus
The clown loach is a boldly banded freshwater loach of the Indomalayan realm. Active across day and night, it lives close to the bottom in loose company with others.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It uses rivers, floodplains, and slower freshwater channels. Leaf litter, submerged cover, and seasonal access to flooded margins suit it well.
Length is about 15-30 cm and weight about 100-500 g. The rounded orange body carries broad black bands, and barbels around the mouth probe the bottom.
Rather than holding a fixed group, individuals often forage near one another in loose shoals. They may move by day, but dim water and night also bring activity.
It is carnivorous, taking aquatic insects, crustaceans, and other small bottom animals. The mouth works through sand and leaf litter to pick out prey.
Spawning is tied to seasonal rises in water, with eggs scattered in flowing or vegetated freshwater. Young grow in shallower areas with cover.
Its status is listed as Least Concern. Known widely in aquaria, it remains a river fish whose wild life depends on connected seasonal freshwater habitats.
