CreatureData

Clown loach

Chromobotia macracanthus (Bleeker, 1852)

Status not recordedbony fish

The clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus) is a species in the family Botiidae, order Cypriniformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the clown loach

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the clown loach live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the clown loach as introduced in 3 countries.

  1. Canada
  2. Mexico
  3. Singapore

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the clown loach endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the clown loach classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderCypriniformes
  5. familyBotiidae
  6. genusChromobotia
  7. SpeciesChromobotia macracanthus (Bleeker, 1852)

Synonyms Botia macracantha, Botia macracanthus, Botia macrocanthus, Cobitis macracanthus

Other names and names in other languages (26)
  • Tiger botiaEnglish
  • Tiger loachEnglish
  • Harlekyn-modderkruiperAfrikaans
  • Klaun botiaBosnian
  • Bòtia pallassoCatalan
  • mřenka ozdobnáCzech
  • PragtsmerlingDanish
  • PrachtschmerleGerman
  • Botia payasoSpanish
  • TiigerbootsiaEstonian
  • دلقک ماهی تیانPersian
  • TiikerinuoliainenFinnish
  • Öves díszcsíkHungarian
  • Ikan GejubangIndonesian
  • クラウンローチJapanese
  • Ikan macanMalay
  • دلقک ماهی تیونMazanderani
  • Bocja wspaniałaPolish
  • Bótia palhaçoPortuguese
  • Боция-клоунRussian
  • PraktbotiaSwedish
  • ปลาหมูอินโดThai
  • mřenka nádhernáCzech
  • sekavka nádhernáCzech
  • Botia BadutIndonesian
  • Botia-palhaçoPortuguese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the clown loach

Other species in the same family Botiidae.

Yoyo

Botia almorhae

BotiidaeNo free photo yet

Dwarf botia

Ambastaia sidthimunki

BotiidaeNo free photo yet

Skunk botia

Yasuhikotakia morleti

BotiidaeNo free photo yet

Blue botia

Yasuhikotakia modesta

BotiidaeNo free photo yet

CompareClown loach vs Zebra loachClown loach vs YoyoClown loach vs Polka-dot loachClown loach vs Dwarf botia

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the clown loach an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the clown loach as introduced in 3 countries: Canada, Mexico and Singapore, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the clown loach?

The clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus) belongs to the family Botiidae in the order Cypriniformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/clown-loach

MLA

“Clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/clown-loach.

BibTeX
@misc{clown_loach_2026,
  title = {Clown loach (Chromobotia macracanthus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/clown-loach},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}