Bristlenose but what type?

[JoePlec]

Hi i have this little guy here around 2.5 inches nice markings but not like any of the other bristlenoses i keep. Any ideas?

[MatsP]

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

unless you have very clear reasons to say otherwise.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

Whilst agreeing totally with Mats a little more info...

It is by far the commonest available & has a lot of variation in colour/patterning & bristle development even.

Unless you paid a lot more for it & were told it was something unusual with some evidence to back that up - like specific capture location it is most likely a common.

I have some spotted like yours whereas others have little or no discernable spotting & they are all kin

[JoePlec]

All i know is that its very green, and it has a female. And i should mention they have bred twice now.

[Richard B]

All i know is that its very green, and it has a female. And i should mention they have bred twice now.

Maybe a pic of the entire fish might help us a little more with an ID?

[JoePlec]

any better?

[Mod edit: Remove superfluous post and place it inline --Mats]

[JoePlec]

added one wrong pic. please ignore the bottom one.

[MatsP]

added one wrong pic. please ignore the bottom one.

Bottom picture now removed, and I've place the first image inline.

And I don't see anything to change my opinion. However, it is clearly differnet from the other fish you posted by mistake, which is NOT a common ancistrus.

--
Mats

[JoePlec]

Oh yeah i know that. The one posted by accident was a L181 Male

[JoePlec]

Still not convinced cos this dude is small... head is really narrow for a bristlenose. never seen that before in any bristlenose

[sidguppy]

it's got the rubbery bristles, hence it's a bristlenose.

only Ancistrus spp has the rubbery bristles; it is THE characteristic of that genus.

in other pleco's the head-bristles are stiff, like the Punk Pleco or a male Panaque.
those stiff bristles are odontodes and fragile.

the headshape in cf cirrhosus is very variable. as Ancistrus go; this particular species is quite slim

compare it with for example L144 or A ranunculus wich have a much wider built.
the cf cirrhosus often breeds at 2" and also shows the bristles at that size.
many other species grow to a larger size before getting this 'bristly'.

their color range is really wide.
green, greyish, brown, olive, dark, patchy (piebald, OB and chalico), albino, gold and red are among the variety.

[JoePlec]

Yea i know its a bristle nose for sure haha.. i just wasnt sure what type because it looks nothing like the other 50 or so that i have. thanks for the info tho

[MatsP]

My male who is about 5 years old (in my ownership, it was clearly about 6-10 months old when I got), and it's only about 4" now, but your fish is about the same size as mine when I got him, perhaps a bit larger.

The head will grow wider as the fish ages too.

--
Mats

[Richard B]

BNs are not really my thing but there is something different to Cf cirrhosus which are relatively cheap & offered commercially as " green spot BN" - i've seen these offered a couple of times recently - as they don't really captivate me i've mostly overlooked these but this is superficially similar - it might be a possibility although i doin't know the species or L no for that one

[Hansen]

I'd also like to hear if you guys concur on, that these are all Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus. They were all sold as Ancistrus spp, or Common Ancistrus.
The two WT dark ones are about 2.5 inches, and the albino juveniles are about 1.5 inches. Originally I was told common Ancistrus meant Ancistrus dolichopterus, but thanks to PlanetCatfish I've realized that is a mistake.
Thanks, Hans