Ever wondered where the colourful little Clown Loach that is so popular in aquaria hails from? The origin of the clown loach, Chromobotia macracanthus fka botia macracanthus, is the inland waters of Sumatra and Borneo two of the largest islands in Indonesia. They are found in fast moving waters and clown loaches appricate fast moving water in aquariums as well.
Indonesia is part of both Asia and Oceania. It is comprised of over 17,500 islands of which roughly 6,000 are inhabited by man. The most well known of all 17500 islands are Borneo, Java, New Guinea, Sumatra and Sulawesi. Only a part of Borneo is Indonesian, the other parts belong to Malaysia and Brunei. New Guinea is shared with Papua New Guinea.
The Monsoons affect the weather a lot on Indonisia which has a dry and a wet season. The average temperature varies little throughout the year and you can expect it to stay around 26-30°C (79-86°F) during the day.
The clown loach is not the only creature that feels at home in Indonesia the country actually supports the world’s second highest level of biodiversity (after Brazil). The biodiversity is in part due to the fact that the Asian and the Australian Faune meet in Indonesia. 40% of all mammals in Indonesia are endemic to the area and so are a lot of plant, fish, bird and insect species.
Indonesia is located where the tectonic plates of Australia, Euroasia and the Pacific meets, which make it prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Indonesia is home to 150 active vulcano among which the most famous are Krakatoa and Tambora who both have had devestating eruptions during the 19th century. There is a positive side the the vulcanos however and that is that it is nutrient rich vulcanic ash from the vulcanos that allow the rich plant life in the region.
Sumatra, Borneo and Java is known as Sunduland and have similar characteristics with the nearby Asian mainland. The lakes, rivers and swamps of this region are home to roughly 1,000 scientifically described species of fish of which nearly 200 were discovered during the last decade.
The island Sulawesi and the Maluku archipelago in known as Wallacea and is located between Sundaland and the Australian zone to the east. Some of the Nusa Tenggara islands are also considered parts of Wallacea. Over 300 species of fish has been described from the Wallacean waters out of which nearly 25% are endemic. Examples of endemic fish species include goby and halfbeak species found in South Sulawesi. The Maluku archipelago and Nusa Tenggara are expected to still contain a lot of undescribed endemic species just waiting to be discovered.
