Loaches Online Forum

Hi Jim,

Jim Powers wrote:Neither does different bahaviour. Most loach keepers can tell you that there is variation in behaviour and temperment among individuals of the same species. The botinae, in particular, are notorius for this.

I was referring to the behavior of a group toward an individual.

Individual temperament is interesting to observe but it does not allow to make any general conclusions.

A group behavior toward an individual OTOH is statistically averaged and may well lead to very interesting results.

Yeah, whatever.

Hey Mike...are you an actuary by profession?

As the owner of a rather large shoal of Clowns with varying head shapes, and after an obscene amount of accumulated hours spent observing them all, I can safely say that I have not noticed any difference in the behaviour of the two head shapes ('round-faced' and 'long-nosed'). This not only refers to the behaviour of the individuals, but also to the behaviour of others towards them.
Like Martin and Jim have already said, we are all individuals, as are fish. The temperament of one can be quite different to that of another - head shape just doesn't seem to come into it.

Here's a few pics showing the different head shapes of some of my Clowns:

'Round-faced'...




'Long-nosed'....




All shoaling happily together.....

















Emma

Shari wrote:Hey Mike...are you an actuary by profession?

To your question -- no, not even close (but this was funny!).

The basic science used for insurance, polling, or much of the scientific research in natural sciences is, however, the same.

Thanks a lot, Emma, this answers it....and makes me want to see your setup next time I'm in the UK. A very nice collection, and they all look fit too...

OK, so it seems that the head-shape is not a reason for rejection.
I'm fairly sure that disease sometimes is (seen this twice).