Yikes! Interopercular Spines...PURE 666

[Seedy]

Check out the Panaque nigrolineatus (Royal Pl*co) "flexing".

[andywoolloo]

whoa!

[SOBERKITTY]

To quote Dana Carvey. "Could it be Saaaatan?" I think it would be on the Devils fish wish list! How big is that fish? Someone should definitely make that a show fish. Impressive!

[Birger]

Good timing on that shot...interesting pic

Birger

[racoll]

Good timing on that shot...

Too right. They usually only flash the spines for a split second!

[andywoolloo]

is it used for a weapon? Was he scared or just like stretching kinda?

[husky_jim]

.....Don't mess with him.....!!!!!!!

[Richard B]

He needs a comb & some hair gel!

great shot of a good lookin' panaque

[MatsP]

is it used for a weapon? Was he scared or just like stretching kinda?

It's used both as a offensive and defensive weapon. If you catch one of these fish, it will lock these spines out and they are quite nasty to birds trying to swallow the fish for example [note that pescivore birds normally swallow fish "head first", and that the fish is decidedly non-slippy when attempted to be swallowed tail-first too].

--
Mats

[Joren56]

I wouldn't like to fish this one out of the tank .

[Sabi]

Thats an awesome fish!

[Seedy]

Thanks for all the comments. I've been trying to get lucky and get a picture of him "flexing" his spines since I got him...I finnally got lucky! Oddly enough, he won't flare them at my hand or at the python when I'm sucking up "sawdust". It is usually about as quick as a yawn although I'm sure if he were actually feeling threatened he would leave them extended.

[bronzefry]

Great photo. How big is this bad boy?
Amanda

[Seedy]

He's about 10 inches or so...(total length)

[andywoolloo]

he is amazing! A real beauty of a fish! You should be proud! What size tank? What food does he eat? Who are his co habitants?

[Suckermouth]

He's about 10 inches or so...(total length)

Only 10"? He looks a lot bigger in the pics, hehe. Those are some mean odontodes, my plec's odontodes aren't anywhere near that long. Perhaps mine is a female, but perhaps the odontodes are going to grow really fast in the next few years and catch up.

[bronzefry]

He's still got some serious growing to do. I look forward to seeing the progression of the odontodes.
Amanda

[pLaurent1251]

Yikes!

That's an incredible photo of an amazing fish!

[Seedy]

he is amazing! A real beauty of a fish! You should be proud! What size tank? What food does he eat? Who are his co habitants?

He eats a lot of wood! Everything from Molpani and Malaysian to local willow, maple, pecan and oak. Big piles of sawdust-poo... I also give him potato and other veggies occasionally. He also sometimes goes after the shrimp pellets and New Life Spectrum that I feed to the Corydoras trilineatus and the Angel fish that live with him...The occasional Hikari algae wafer too... There is also a smaller L191 and a Panaque macus living with him (read as: hiding for their lives). I'm working on getting a larger set up that will house him more comfortably without endangering my smaller plecs...

[Seedy]

[andywoolloo]

whoa!! what a close up! very pretty eye! And his spiny guys are nice and folded back.
He is just way impressive! What is his name?

[Seedy]

What is his name?

Good question! My 1st P. nigrolineatus ( ended up getting taken by an ex-girlfriend when we split up) was named "Natas"...as in "Satan", backwards. I'd kinda like to call this guy that, but this one is my Wife's fish and it would be weird to call it the same thing I called a fish that an "ex" got...So we just call him "Mr. Panaque". It really is more fitting as he is not really an aggressive fish at all...He just looks like he should be mean.

[Sabi]

What beautifully wicked eyes!