bristlenose without bristles?

[will74]

I purchased a pleco that was listed as a bristlenose but in is almost 4.5" long and has no bristles except for two tiny whiskers right where the tip of it's mouth is. I will try to get pics but all I have right now is a camera phone and it is very poor quality. The fish is shaped like a BN and has 8 rays on its dorsal fin and some of the rays split at the ends. My question is could this be a female BN?

[FuglyDragon]

does it have fine white spots ?

[MatsP]

Sounds likely to be a female, but it could be many other things too.

This is an old picture of "Gus", which is one of my female bristlenoses. She has no bristles, and about three years ago, she was around 11 cm (4.5") total length.


--
Mats

[will74]

Looks exactly like that, thank you. I have another one that looks similar but has much lighter spots and really long fins, Same number of rays on dorsal but is much more active to the point that it will almost eat out of your hand[ It has on several occasions].

[Dave Rinaldo]

Looks exactly like that, thank you. I have another one that looks similar but has much lighter spots and really long fins,.

Look at the veiltail form of

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

(formerly Ancistrus sp. 3)