Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded January 01, 2002.

Volume four covers the South American trio of Loricariidae, Doradidae and Aspredinidae. Plecos, Talking and Banjo Cats to put a not so fine point on it. The later two make up only a small portion of the material offered, but this is in keeping with the number of species in each family. The section on Talking Catfish covers all the commonly available species and rarities with equal detail. The section on Banjo catfish is similarly useful and has the added benefit of additional breeding information.

Loricariids are very much in fashion at the time of writing (if they ever were out), but you will not find many of the newer "fashion victims" in this text. There aren't any galaxy, zebra or mango plecos here. What you will find is a comprehensive set of featured fish, many type specimen photos and line drawings. This is because the author favors attacking the subject matter from the taxonomic viewpoint which is no mean feat. Many fish can only be identified, often tentatively to generic level. Whiptail catfish have the most limelight, possibly because breeding successes are more common with this group of fish. Indeed there are a number of articles on this subject.

I found this volume the hardest of the five to rate. Compulsory reading for any potential breeders of these families certainly, most useful again in researching taxonomy even despite the massive additions and recent changes to the family Loricariidae. Perhaps it is the Aqualog L-number book which causes the frustration here, this being the antithesis of Sands work. My wish? A book merging the two approaches.

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