bought as a galaxy *PICS NOW

[traumatic]

I bought this pleco as a galaxy pleco. I can't get good pics as of now or any pics that will be sufficient enough for an ID. The Fish is in my 120g that is 2/3 driftwood.

aside from the common "galaxy" traits such as black w/ white spots, I can only give you my best description. So here goes...

slender body, currently 3-4 inches long. sparsely spotted w/ evenly distributed *symmetrical creme colored spots. Forked tail, w/ trailers , triangular shaped head, and somewhat flat bodied. The body sides have an irridescence to it, almost like the it has hairs on it. Please excuse my lack of nomenclature, hope you can get something out of it.

After some research my closest guess is L107/L184, or 282...

[grokefish]

I rekon thats an

Acanthicus adonis

.
One of the easiest ways to tell is does it have an adipose fin? If not then the chances are it's an adonis.
If not then it could be

Leporacanthicus cf_galaxias(l007)

"cue James bond theme tune"
Oops I think you need a bigger tank.

Matt

[MatsP]

Or it could be this:

Panaque albomaculatus

--
Mats

[grokefish]

Indeed.

Matt

[traumatic]

Thanks for the replys. Definitely not adonis, not a

Leporacanthicus cf_galaxias(l007)

, which is what I assumed it was by name alone. The suggestion of

Panaque albomaculatus

is probably a winner. I waited in front of my tank an hour for it to come out of the shadows with no luck. If at all possible I'll update this thread with some pics when I can finally get one or two.

[CatsandFish]

it could be a L254 Spectracanthicus Sp.

[traumatic]

... we'll see, I have pics coming up

[traumatic]

[drpleco]

LDA31, I would think. What's the mouth look like?

[traumatic]

I wish I could tell you right now. I know the mouth is small, you can see that in the pics (#1, #3). As far as mouthparts go, I can't produce pics of those right now.

[MatsP]

A photo of the mouth would help make certain, but yes, LDA31

Panaque albomaculatus

seems likely. Fairly few spots..

--
Mats

[traumatic]

Not the best, but the best I could do for now...

[MatsP]

We really need a shot of the inside of the mouth - sucking on the glass or some such.

--
Mats

[traumatic]

I know, we're looking for spoon shaped teeth... The absence of tentacles rules out ancistrus right? Or am I still reaching?

[drpleco]

Definitely not an ancistrus. It has the same body type as some small L204's that have, that are probably the same size. L204 and LDA31 are closely related. The caudal trailers and small mouth make me almost certain that it's a small panaque, and the spots indicate LDA31.

[MatsP]

I know, we're looking for spoon shaped teeth... The absence of tentacles rules out ancistrus right? Or am I still reaching?

It is not an Ancistrus [or at the very least, any KNOWN Ancistrus], I can tell that much.

--
Mats

[traumatic]

I did notice the resemblance to L204 in the body shape, especially the head and tail. The spotting is slightly different than the pics of other LDA31's on the clog, as far as size/spacing/quantity. Thanks for all your help so far, I will attempt to catch it and get an open mouth pic.

[MatsP]

I agree that the number/spacing of spots isn't typical - it may be from a different part of the river, or maybe even a different river.

--
Mats

[Yann]

Hi!!!

This fish surely look like a Panaque/Panaqolus albomaculatus!!
The body shape look right and so does the colour!!
Cheers
Yann

[fish fodder]

LDA31. The spots can be quite variable

[racoll]

P. albomaculatus if you ask me.

[traumatic]

thanks guys, I'll go with it. If I ever get mouth pics, I'll be sure to post them up for confirmation.