I've read all species of Cobitidae have the eye spine, including pangios & dojos but not the hillstreams (Balitoridae). It's hidden behind a flap of skin.
Getting Cut by a Loach
- Thread starter Blue_Ram
- Start date
Agreed. It's not just botiine loaches that have the spines under their eyes. It is a trait that many of the Cobitidae family members have including kuhli loaches.
I would also like to point out that there was a never a botiine genus. Bottine is just a word that has been used to describe loaches that used to be classified in the botia genus.
I think it's a sub-family, but I also see botiid used the same or at least a similar way. A loach by any name...:hearts:
Yes Haytch the genus botia is included in the family (super family?) botiine & sub-family botiid, but lets not split suborbital spines over it 
evelyn, corydoras (& many catfish) have pectoral & dorsal spines, like thickened first fin rays, loaches have a spine under the eye called subocular or suborbital spines that sit in a groove & can be extended by the fish by a hinge-like mechanism.
Corys use their's less offensively AFAIK, more defensively to keep from being swallowed but plecos do an offensive side to side thrashing motion. Loaches can use their's more in fights with each other even if it's for just visual posturing (don't make me cut you :grinno
.
evelyn, corydoras (& many catfish) have pectoral & dorsal spines, like thickened first fin rays, loaches have a spine under the eye called subocular or suborbital spines that sit in a groove & can be extended by the fish by a hinge-like mechanism.
Corys use their's less offensively AFAIK, more defensively to keep from being swallowed but plecos do an offensive side to side thrashing motion. Loaches can use their's more in fights with each other even if it's for just visual posturing (don't make me cut you :grinno
.