Sailfin Pleco changes colors???!!!!

[VWVR6Love]

I have a Sailfin Pleco and i came home for lunch today and as always i was looking in my tank at my fish!!

i noticed he was dark as usual, no problems there, then i was looking at my other fish, then i looked back down at my pleco and he had silvery/gray spots all over him. then just as soon as i went into the kitchen, then came back, they were gone!! and he was still in the same spot the whole time.

Is this someone else has ever noticed or am I the only one with this situation??

Pleco's are sort of like chamelions, they can change color darker or lighter to blend in with their environment... also as any other fish, stress and happiness can change their color... theres no telling what caused it, maybe he thought it was feeding time? LOL

[VWVR6Love]

makes sense!!!!! thanks for the info!!!

[Jchillin]

Pleco's for the most part are indeed chameleon's as Ashley states. Though they do it for a purposeful reason. As a nocturnal fish, they'd rather be hidden during daylight hours. They have adapted the color change in the wild and when in the home aquarium, will change their color the to background in order to hide.

I was amazed at this at first but to really get an idea of how spectactular this really is was when I moved mine from my pink graveled 30 gal to my blue/green gravel 75 gal. When laying on the substrate under some plant roots, he is a light blue/silver color. When he is laying on the driftwood (either right side up or upside down) he takes on the color of the wood and is barely noticeable.

Truly amazing.

[FMJnaX]

I'll just confirm it as well. My clown pleco is a rich, dark brown color while on the woods. When he heads out to the gravel, he'll lighten up significantly. When he attaches to the back glass (which has a black background), he turns nearly black. Very intriguing it is!