Carachama Mama
The local word for pleco combined with "Mama" is the common name for these spp throughout the Amazon. The idea being that, since they are the biggest sp found, all other plecos (
Hypostomus, etc) are their babies.
Western science groups, distinguishes, and defines spp by their believed evolutionary history, which defines how we see and interpret the world around us. Other peoples throughout the world have very different ways of arranging the natural world with size often an important factor. The Yanomami place the freshwater dolphin, red tailed catfish, humans, jaguar and tapir in the same "family" as all are big. A red tail cat thus, in the traditional view, is more closely related to humans and jaguars than it is to say a pleco or doradid.
A herpetologist friend of mine did an ethno-taxonomic study with the Yanomami of turtles. There are 30 something turtle spp found where the Yanomami live. Guess what? They have two words for turtle, one translates as "big turtle" and another as "small turtle."
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
Hello Everyone, How large does the L155 grow and does that include the over-all length of the tailfin 
and has anyone heard of the Carachama Mama 
