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209 Featured Specimen
Clown loach

Details

Clown loach

Chromobotia macracanthus

Size
15–30 cm · 100–500 g
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Cathemeral
Sociality
Loose group
Lifespan
5-20 years

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.

Range

Habitat range map
Native range Occasional / Transient
IndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayan

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Details

Habitat

It uses rivers, floodplains, and slower freshwater channels. Leaf litter, submerged cover, and seasonal access to flooded margins suit it well.

Appearance

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.

Behavior

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.

Feeding

It is carnivorous, taking aquatic insects, crustaceans, and other small bottom animals. The mouth works through sand and leaf litter to pick out prey.

Reproduction

Spawning is tied to seasonal rises in water, with eggs scattered in flowing or vegetated freshwater. Young grow in shallower areas with cover.

Notes

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.