anyone have any idea why . . .

[tear-scar]

clown loaches grow so big!?

Coming from an evolutionary standpoint, what's the reason?

Their life style is that of a active bottom feeder. They spend time in caves like other loaches, but they are pretty active and move about eating a lot of different types of food. They are not powerful fish, with no powerful jaws of explosive muscles to give them a dominance in the river environment. Thus wouldn't it be best to stay small and unobtrusive? Wouldn't it use energy better by staying small, especially since it's so active? The way cories live. Could it be there are no predators to devour large, obvious, colorful cows scuffling about the river bottom all the time?

Obviously there must be predators. Otherwise the schooling behavior makes no sense. Why excercise a defense mechanism like schooling if there are no predators?

Also, what's the point of such a huge adult size if it takes so much time and energy to reach it? Doesn't it inhibit the loach a lot if it has to devote such massive time and energy before it can breed?

 

[Loach Man]

I think you have to much time on your hands I really don't give a flipping hang why they are the size they are, It's just the way God made them

 

[canarsie11]

I think you have to much time on your hands I really don't give a flipping hang why they are the size they are, It's just the way God made them

WOW!

 

[Rusty_S]

I think it's a valid question, when I'm a fully qualified marine biologist I'll probably be expected to analyse things like this in the future.

Perhaps the reason they stay so small for so long is so that they can evade predators until they are sexually mature, but no-one knows much about breeding clowns so I don't know when the breeding age is. The size may not be so much to do with competing with other fish but to do with competing with each other. Size plays a MAJOR part in establishing pecking order in any species and if the larger loaches are more successful then nature will select for the larger traits. Perhaps size is more important in clown loach heirarchy than it is for other fish, as, like you said, they don't have big teeth or muscly bodies or anything so perhaps make this up by sheer bulk. Also, clown loaches aren't particularly fussy eaters so it might just happen that there is just plenty of food for them wherever they are

EDIT: Also, the bigger the parents are, the more robust their offspring will be, they just choose to invest a lot of energy into their offspring as opposed to spawning willy nilly

 

[Loach Man]

Could be but who knows

 

[tear-scar]

Eh, that makes sense. I didn't think about the relationship amongst the school of fish. Maybe on top of that there are lots of big caves and hiding places in their habitat.

 

[Rusty_S]

Yeah maybe And am I right in thinking clown loaches are nocturnal? I'm not sure cos mine are round pretty much all day, but it might explain how they evade predators, maybe their predators are diurnal and don't get to see them.

 

[clutterydrawer]

what could eat a full-grown clown loach???

 

[Rusty_S]

Ah I'm sure there's something out there in those waters that gets bigger than a full grown clown loach in an open stream Just think of all those fish you need HUGE tanks to accommodate