I have 3 decent sized clown loaches (average 12cm) and ive heard that they have a 'razor' beneath each eye but i have never seen my loaches deploy them before...
is there a way i can get my loaches to show me there weapons??
The Botias all possess a greater or smaller eye spine. These can inflict a painful cut if the fish is mishandled, although normally, it is not apparent. Another thing to be aware of is that the spine can catch in nets, not noticing the spine is caught can lead to it being damaged, this sometimes leads to the death of the fish.
I had exactly this happened when I was buying a clown a couple of years ago: he got the weaponry out, got it entangled in the net, and when the salesman at the store released him, used the spines on the salesman....the guy screamed and cursed for a few minutes. Only a finger cut, but a deep one.
The clown was fine.
just under the eye click for image
(credit: Emma Turner of Maidenhead Aquatics and Loaches.com)
from loaches.com "Clowns raise these formidable weapons when they need to defend themselves, or when disturbed in some way. This one had recently been moved to this tank and was unsettled. Great care must be taken when moving Clowns and indeed all Botiine Loaches because the spines can catch in a net and damage the fish. Also, when transporting the species, multiple bags must be used to avoid punctures and loss of water."
as LL said above, all of the Botiine loaches have this trait.
im assuming these will have large spines like the humbug cat as previpously mentioned, anyone else have these and have any pics of spines out??
heres a better pic of catfish but still not a great one! http/www.israquarium.co.il/Fish/FishInde...nosissimus.html
lol speaking of wepons this guy in my lfs when i was buying 4 told me that they were venemous and they had barbs in there front fins and dorsal fin i reasearched alot on them before buying them so im sure he was giving me a load of bull to make convo since he was a new employee lol
True or False that is the question?