Sumatran Clown Loaches!

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Nice! I didnt know these were harder to find than the ones from Borneo. I guess that explains why all of mine have black on their fins :)
 
Sumatran loaches have relatively intense colouration. The colour contrasts are crisper than those seen in the “duller” fish from Borneo. The most obvious difference between these geographically separated populations is detected in the pelvic fins. Clown loaches from Borneo exhibit a basal and central black area, with a reddish orange leading ray. Sumatran fish have a solid reddish orange fin without any black. Other noted differences include less colouration of the dorsal and anal fin leading edges and a lack of stripe continuation into the caudal peduncle of Sumatran fish. Fish sourced from Kalimantan are similar to those from Sumatra, however the red colouration is more intense. The subtle colour variation between Sumatran and Kalimantan aches could be attributed to habitat. Sumatran loaches live in murky, turbid waters, whereas those from Kalimantan prefer the brown, tannic waters of tributaries. Perhaps the dissolved organic matter of the black water environment helps accentuate the reddish/orange colours in the fish. All fish that I have seen available in Australia appear to be from Borneo stock *edit: I just found a Sumatran!*
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From:

http://www.sydneycichlid.com/clown-loach.htm
 
Similar info can be found here:
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/biodiversitii/bio/aquarium_more.html

In Central Kalimantan, the exploitation of B. macracanthus is not as heavy and the locals catch adults for food (pers. comm., D. Siebert, BMNH). Specimens from Sumatra can be discerned from the Kalimantan specimens by the fish exporters. The overall colour is subtly different between the populations. The Sumatran specimens generally have a silvery sheen over the body; whereas the Kalimantan specimens have a more intense reddish colouration. This could however due to the habitat. The Sumatran specimens inhabits murky water rivers, whereas the Kalimantan ones prefer brown water rivers or even black water tributaries. The dissolved tannins and humic acids in black water tend to accentuate their reddish colours.
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Interesting info, I just looked at my clowns to try and see if I had any that might not be from borneo, and I have a mixture. Must be because my clowns are from all over. Fish auctions, lfs, petsmart... list goes on and on, but they were both two of my non oddball ones. I wonder if the borneos may be more prone to the jigsaw, saddleback and strange stripe patterns.
This is very cool though, I never knew that there was a difference in fin and body color, other than a slight shade. But I have 2 that have all bright orange fins and no black on them!
Jeeze! Now I need to check fins when I search the loach tanks and not just for oddballers! hahaha Looking forward to it though I love the shot at finding something different, thats what beats online sometimes, its fun to find hidden treasures.
 
Bottomfeeder;2638421; said:
wow ewurm in jealous
wild-caught Loaches are so much more vibrant!
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Most loaches are wild caught, exported from Borneo. Some are exported from Sumatra, and very few from Kalimantan. There are breeding programs using hormones in Thailand, and the University of Florida is also working to bring the aquaculture of Clown Loaches to America. I'm trying to find out how successful they have been.
 
nice!
 
From what I heard, on december 2008 hundreds of thousand clown loach from Kalimantan (Borneo) Indonesia were caught and shipped by exporters. But only thousands from Sumatera (Indonesia). Size between 2" - 12". Still no captive breeding succeed here.
 
If that's the case, then hopefully we will be seeing some decent photos of the Kalimantan strain in the near future.
 
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