loricariidae identification

[aledk85]

hi!!!!
most of the people(no catfish-passion) that have tank,usualy buy's cleaning fish ( i hate this definition)aniway...the seller bit informed use usualy common name like pleco,plecostomus sp. but how one buyer can know if is it(for example)Hypostomus sp. or Pterygoplichthys sp.?usualy with the ancistrus we look at the tale but with them?we just see the color when they grow?
thanks

[DutchFry]

for example, Pterygoplichthys spp have more then 10 rays on their dorsal fin.

but in general, sellers just forget the names given to them by breeders or exporters. sometimes fish comes in without a scientific name, so they just label them as being plecostomus or something like that.

buyers must get more responsible. do your research before purchasing a fish. take a picture at your LFS and ask around if you're not sure which species you're dealing with. a forum like PlanetCatfish is of great value in this proces*




* and ofcourse for a 1000 more reasons!

[racoll]

Information on differentiating Hypostomus and Pterygoplichthys can be found here

[aledk85]

thanks
we need to count the dorsal ray
very intersting....

[MatsP]

The other key would be the price. Pterygoplichthys are generally not expensive. Wild-caught Hypostomus [and as far as I'm aware, they are not captive bred] will be noticeably more expensive.

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Mats