Pleco ID plz...

[cJw]

Heyas!

After almost 6 weeks, I got a reasonable pic the 'new' pleco - but I'm not sure what he is and am curious about his adult size. He was listed as a 'common pleco' at the lfs, but I've never seen a common this red-orange in color :

Ideas?

 

[Fluff]

Chocolate pleco. I'll find the real name for you. Hang on.

 

[Fluff]

Ok, I can't find good info but it is a common pleco, Hypostomus plecostomus. The chocolate is just a color varient or type of albino. If I'm right, this pleco can get up to a foot long.

 

[cJw]

Thx for the quick reply, Fluff - and since my wife picked him out, maybe when he starts getting really big she'll agree that we need a bigger tank. : grin :

 

[odobenus]

hypostomus plecostomous... perhaps a friend of Yertle the turtle? or maybe the Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee Watcher...

(sorry, it sounded so much like a Dr. Seuss character that I just couldn't resist. )

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Does he look like the bottom one on this page?

The eyes really stand out. Reminds me of an albino. But maybe the top pic makes the eyes look redder than they actually are.

Here's a link to the Chocolate Pleco.

 

[Fluff]

The link to catfishplanet is to the rhino pleco. I was gonna suggest that as well but couldn't tell if it had the nose scales. I have one of those and have seen them listed as chocolates as well. Could be either. The rhino I've read can get 12-18 inches.

 

[Fluff]

Hey cJw. Does your pleco's nose look like this? This is my pleco at about 16". Alot of plecos have those "horns" but the rhino is more pronounced. Excuse the camera strap.

 

[cJw]

I'm sure he doesn't have 'horns', but I'm not sure that he isn't an albino; that's actually what I'd been calling him before I had a pic to confirm. Hrm...

I'm not sure if the redeye in those pics is solely from the flash or not, and I think it's going to be difficult to get any better of a pic until I get him some driftwood to 'sleep' on.

 

[Fluff]

Well, since the lfs told you it was a common, I'd go with the hypostomus ID. The dorsal fin doesn't look like a rhino/sailfin to me.

 

[Toirtis]

Loks like what I have seen sold as a 'chocolate albino' colour variant of common pleco.

 

[cJw]

I would think that the lfs would try to charge a little more for a 'chocolate albino' variant - but he was the same price as the others. Of course, they very well could have just not separated him, but he sure doesn't look like the other 'common' plecos in the tank with him.

Regardless, we like him - now if I could only find the perfect piece of driftwood for him and the tank...

 

[Fluff]

My lfs sells them for the same price as the common plecos as well.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Fluff- The link I provided from Planet Catfish says Chocolate Pleco, Rhino Pleco. Two common names for the same pleco.

 

[Fluff]

Fluff- The link I provided from Planet Catfish says Chocolate Pleco, Rhino Pleco. Two common names for the same pleco.

I know.

 

[cJw]

So a choc pleco IS a rhino pleco? Are there not choc "un-rhino" plecos? The color in that pic sure looks like his (its) color, but it sure doesn't have any horns... :?

 

[Fluff]

I didn't mean to confuse you. There is another chocolate pleco. Like I and Toirtis have mentioned, it's an albino varient of the common pleco. This is what I believe you have. Not the chocolate/rhino pleco.

 

[Fluff]

Here are some pics of the albino chocolate common plecos.

http://riebesell.net/aquaria/livestock.cfm?fid=26

http://www.petsolutions.com/Chocolate+Plecostomus-I-47006-I-C-40001827-C-.aspx

Here is planetcatfish's like link to the normal colored. The one link ^ there says 6-8 inches but I would figure on around 10". Planetcatfish says 12".

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/hypostom/580_f.php