List of Plecos Under 8"

[Proflooney]

37.

Submitted by Proflooney

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

Synonyms: L001, L022

Common Names: Gold Spot Common Pleco, Amazonas-Pleco (Germany)

Category: Species Plecostimus

Order: Siluriformes

Family: Loricariidae

Origin: South America: Tocantins River basin.
Amazon, Lower Amazon, Tocantins

Main Ecosystem:

Salinity: (Freshwater)

Temperment: Larger individuals are territorial to conspecifics however not predatory and able to look after itself with all but the most violent tankmates. Not a good pleco to keep with other similarly sized plecos as the P. joselimaianus would usually win any competition for food.

Care: na

Diet: Lettuce, Peas, Frozen Spinach and any prepared food that reaches the bottom. Larger fish enjoy prawns or pieces of freshwater trout. Algae (especially soft brown) will be eaten immediately.

pH: 6.4 - 7.6

Temperature: 24.0-29.0°C or 75.2-84.2°F

Hardness: 54 – 268 ppm

Potential size: 200mm (8.0")

Water Region: Bottom Dweller Rock piles and wood tangles. Plants are not vital.

Activity: na

Lifespan: na

Color: Pterygoplichthys can be identified by the number of rays in the dorsal fin. More than 10 indicates that it's a Pterygoplichthys. Most other plecos have 8 or fewer rays (in particular the larger Hypostomus species that are most likely to be confused with Pterygoplichthys).

L001 is the same as L022.

Sexing: Comparison of the genital papilla in mature fish shows the differences in the sexes to the trained eye. In males this is a small yet thick stump which noticeably protrudes from the fish's undercarriage. In females it is less obvious and is recessed or lies flat with the body.

Acclimation: na

Breeding: Although commercially farmed, spawning in a home aquarium would be very difficult to achieve as a large wall of mud (I.E. a river bank) is tunnelled into and used for the incubation / hatching process. Large tunnels and fish would be required in a super-size aquarium.


Comments: Suitable with almost any fish, except other plecos due to the conspecific aggression of larger individuals and food competition.

Sources:

Rev. Suisse Zool. v. 98 (no. 3) 640

 

[Proflooney]

38.

Submitted by Proflooney

Ancistrus dolichopterus

Synonyms: L183, Xenocara dolichoptera (Kner, 1854); Hypostoma punctatum Jardine, 1841

Common Names: Starlight Ancistrus

Category: Species Plecostimus

Order: Siluriformes

Family: Loricariidae

Origin: Reports are inconsistent. Some state it to be endemic to the middle and lower rio Negro, Amazonas state, Brazil while others claim it can also be found in Guyana or has a wider distribution within the Amazon basin.

The former appears most likely and a large degree of this confusion can be attributed to it being misidentified for several decades (see ‘Notes’).

Type locality is given simply as ‘Manaus, Brazil’.

Main Ecosystem: Inhabits flowing streams and tributaries containing acidic black water.

Salinity: (Freshwater)

Temperment: Relatively peaceful but territorial with conspecifics and similarly-shaped species.

Care: na

Diet: Wild specimens are probably omnivorous foragers but with a preference for aquatic invertebrates and suchlike.

In the aquarium it does best when offered a varied diet comprising sinking dried foods, frozen Daphnia, mosquito larvae, chironomid larvae (bloodworm), and prawn/shrimp, for, example, plus some fresh fruit, parboiled potato, etc.

Home-made foods using a mixture of natural ingredients bound with gelatin are very useful since they can be tailored to contain fresh vegetables, Spirulina and meatier ingredients.

pH: 6.4 - 7.6

Temperature: 26.0-30.0°C or 78.8-86°F

Hardness: 18 – 179 ppm

Potential size: 200mm (8.0")

Water Region: Bottom Dweller Rock piles and wood tangles. Plants are not vital.

Activity: na

Lifespan: na

Color: This species is not always identified correctly with its name used for the unidentified common bristlenose and other similar species, while the fish itself has been referred to as A. hoplogenys and assigned the L-number L183.

Images and information describing it it in much of the available literature confirm this confusion.

It differs from all other members of the genus by possession of 9 soft dorsal-fin rays.

Ancistrus is a diverse genus currently containing in excess of 60 valid species, distributed between Panama in Central America and the Río de la Plata drainage, Argentina.

Members are diagnosed from other loricariids by possessing well-developed interopercular spines and lacking plates and odontodes on the anterior margin of the snout, which is instead covered in fleshy tentacles.


Sexing: Adult males possess well-developed odontodes on the pectoral fins and opercle and tentacles on the head while females do not.

Acclimation: na

Breeding: Cave-spawner with the male responsible for brood care.

Comments: Like many fishes that hail from pristine natural habitats it’s intolerant to accumulation of organic wastes and requires spotless water in order to thrive.

For this reason it should never be introduced to biologically immature set-ups and adapts most easily to stable, mature aquaria.

Sources:

Ferraris, C. J., Jr., 2007 - Zootaxa 1418: 1-628
Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types.

Reis, R. E. , S. O. Kullander and C. J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds), 2003 - EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre: i-xi + 1-729
Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. CLOFFSCA.

Stawikowski, R., A. Werner and I. Seidel, 2004 - DATZ: 1-132
DATZ Special: L-Numbers.

 

[Proflooney]

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