HELP! which one is it?

[plecorocks]

I know it isn't the greatest shot - I was rearranging some rocks in my 75 gal mbuna tank today and found one of my plecos in a "cave rock" - I yelled for my brother to grab the camara and he snapped two shots before I put him back.
I've been wondering what he was for a while. When I bought him/her/it was called a "butterfly pleco" at the store. I googled that, and he looks nothing like a "butterfly pleco" - the closest I could find in the planet catfish pictures was L201. Not 100% sure, what do you all think?

[nvcichlids]

It is a "common" type pleco, my guess being

Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus

The dorsal in your fish and in the joselimaianus look very similar.

[plecorocks]

It very well could be - thanks. When you put quotes around "common" - what does that mean, exactly? That is commonly found in stores? or bred by farms?

I haven't been in many specialty shops, but I know it isn't as readily seen as a true "common pleco" - I've seen a lot of brushy-nose, rubberlipped, etc. and hadn't seen one like this before - again that doesn't mean it's rare - I'm just interested in the term "common."

Thanks for posting.

[Shane]

The term "common pleco" has been, and still is, applied to at least a half dozen spp. Part of the reason for this is that export centers change with time. So the "common" of yester year that was coming from Venezuela or Trinidad is not the common of today, which may come from Colombia or Brazil. For many years folks put about zero effort in to telling these fishes apart, even though several actual genera were involved. In fact, probably 90% plus of aquarists today make no effort to identify what they were sold as a "pleco" to "eat algae" by their local retailer.

I would not lump your fish in with the "commons" however as it was actually the very first L Number (L 1). However since that time, commercial breeders in SE Asia have started farming them making them commonly available at very low prices. So in that since they have become a common (as in commonly available) loricariid.
-Shane

[plecorocks]

Thanks for taking the time and explaining that to me Shane - it's much appreciated.