sold to me as gold spot bristlenose

[WhiteLomu]

Bought two obvious males from St George Aquariums (Sydney). Both about 25mm long. Unfortunately there were no females in the tank. I can't see this name on the lists so I've no idea what it's listed as here. Looks alot like what was also being sold as peppermint bristlenose for twice the price. Any ideas?

[MatsP]

Quite difficult to say. One possibility is

Ancistrus sp`rio_ucayali`

But it's still small, and most species of Loricariidae (plecos) change colours and spot/line patterns as they grow larger.

--
Mats

[WhiteLomu]

Thanks. They look identical. As you say, I'll see how it grows.
Cheers

[sunfish]

Really no idea what it is, but I don't think it's Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali. The pattern in the tail fin isn't quite right and coloration is wrong. Rio Ucayali should be brown with yellowish dots on the body and orange/brown ones on the fins.

[MatsP]

Tina, you are probably right. Body shape is about right, but spots are a bit light - of course, it's sometimes difficult to tell with digital photos, as white-balance may be off - but the spot colour is definitely more yellow in the photo.

There are at least 100 different species of

Ancistrus

, and they are quite similar overall - there are SOME that show very specific qualities.

--
Mats

[sunfish]

The wrong coloration of the body (black with white dots) could be an artifact. What makes Rio Ucayali stand out from the rest of the "dark with small, whitish dots"-Ancistrus is the fact that the spots on the fins (especially those further out) are a very bright reddish-brown.
The fish in question here has white dots all over, and I don't think that that's due to any kind of photo artifact.

[MatsP]

Good point. I agree, it's probably not sp. Rio Ucayali. What it is, I have no idea.

--
Mats

[WhiteLomu]

Here are more, possibly not better, photos. Hard to get as they do like to hide. The spots are not that gold.

[Silurus]

What about

Ancistrus sp`puerto_ayacucho`

?

[MatsP]

I think that is as good as we'll get without knowing where it was caught - certainly the body shape is similar, and colour is a good match.

--
Mats