Rubbernose or Blonde Bulldog Pleco (L187b)?

[chrisinha]

Hi guys!!
I need help id'ing this fella please... Thanks!

[Silurus]

Chaetostoma sp(l444)

[chrisinha]

Thanks Silurus!

I got this guy a while ago, it was being sold as a "rubbernose pl*co". i'd never thought about id'ing it here and all of a sudden it hit me. So I checked out the catalog and found it more similar to L187b.

[snowflake311]

yeah that's a L187b for sure. They are the more common of the Rubbernose we see in the Stores. I found a different looking one I am trying to get id.

Yours looks good nice and healthy. What are you feeding him?

[chrisinha]

Thanks!
I've been giving him everything I give all my fish. Processed food (flakes, pellets), live bloodworms, frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, spirulina, algae wafers, and veggies and fruits (cucumber, yellow squash, butternut squash, oranges, apples, etc)

Any idea whether it's a male or female?

[Martin S]

According to the Cat-eLog

The males have however a somewhat larger and broader head, slimmer ventral sides and disproportionately large pelvic fins.

I guess with nothing to compare against, it's difficult, but based on pelvic fin size alone, I'd say female, though don't quote me on that!
Martin

[ayrtoninst]

Chaetostoma sp(1)

I don't agree.

This is my Chaetostoma sp(L444):



and this is from the Cat-e-log:



Note the number of 'freckles' on the head and the shape of the eyes.

The OP's plec doesn't have half the number of 'freckles' or the notch at the top of the eye.

As for a definite ID, I am not sure myself but Chaetostoma sp(1) it isn't IMO.

[chrisinha]

I understand how hard it is to identify these fish without knowing some of their background, but don't they a lot of times change their pattern/colors (in reference to the lack of "freckles") as they mature? an example of this should be my L147. When I first got it, 4 years ago, I posted a picture of it here and it was id'ed as a clown pleco. Last year I posted a new picture (not for ID, but a different reason) and someone pointed out that it was actually a L147.
Could the fish be a hybrid? A cross between a L187b and something else? I have to say it does resembles a lot a L187b. As for the notch at the top of the eye, I took this picture after I saw your post and I think you can see a little "notch" on his left eye. I wish I had a macro lens though. I guess I know what I want for xmas!

[MatsP]

I'm 99% sure the fish isn't a hybrid. If it was captive bred, maybe, but as far as I know, there is no captive breeding effort of ANY Chaetostoma other than some rare occurences of "accidental spawns". Given the chances of also having a set of mismatched species in the pair that spawnes, it is extremely unlikely it's a man-made hybrid - and hybrids are really quite rare in nature [especially amongst fish that do not travel very far in general].

We certainly do not have all

Chaetostoma

species in the Cat-eLog. There are 35 species in the Cat-eLog. Fishbase lists 45 valid species, and the Cat-eLog has several undescribed/unidentified species, so we're missing a lot more than 10.

All of these fish are superficially pretty similar, and it is far from easy to identify them. There are however only a few species that are frequently exported. One of those is the C. sp(1).

I'm pretty sure this is a correct ID - the size and number of spots will indeed vary depending on several factors, such as fish size/age as well as individual differences.

If you look at the pictures in the Cat-eLog, you will find quite a few different variations on spots, and I don't think Chrisinha's fish are outside the range of variation that one can expect.

So, in my amateur opinion, the id by Silurus is correct. Silurus, although not infallible, is a professional fish expert - he works in Singapore at the Raffles Institute, and is the author of scientific descriptions of several dozen species, many of which are catfish. He studied in Michigan, and as far as I understand, spent quite some time "studying" the fish available in fish-stores in America.

--
Mats