Which Royal pleco do I have

[joefish72]

I went to the petshop today and after 3 weeks of seeing these two little plecos going unclaimed I just had to give them a home for christmas, especially since the price got down to normal. The only problem is they were listed as "Royal Plecos" with no L number or common name. I have an idea of what they might be (L191) but what is throwing me off is the spots on the dorsal and pectoral fins.

I'd like to see what everyone else thinks they are.

Here are the pics:

[Harry94]

I'm not sure the tail is the right shape for an L191, and like you i cant seem to think of anything with a spotted dorsal fin. I'll have a think and get back to you in the morning if i can come up with anything.

Harry

[matthewfaulkner]

It is a

Panaque sp(l191)

, I don't think the spots are anything unusual, many juvenile Royals have and lose them with age.

I can see something quite unusual though, from the pictures it looks like the green base colour overlaps into it's right eye. It's most prominent in the last picture as you can clearly see the boundary of the eye socket and eye (and the continuation of colour). It's nothing to worry about, I've just not seen it before.

[taksan]

L191 .... without question.

[robb harriston]

im sort of confused also and have asked the same question on different occassions.as little as 15 yrs ago it seems all royals were easy to spot in dealers tanks because of the same basic football shape and those highly identifiable "royal pinstripes". as of late, enter the spotted royals,striped and spotted royals and all combinations thereof.not to mention the many seam colors and finage edge stripe colors,black,yellow,green,orange and even brown or red.maybe one of the experts can help us.i bought my two as royals but they still have some broken lines and even spots.i've seen the new watermelon plecs which they closely resemble.now at 12 inches each and 11 yrs.later,fully mustachioed,i'm satisfied just calling them "the royals".is this a new race?have the races been fused?maybe Mats or an expert can help us answer this question. sorry i have no pictures because i have no camera.all my allowance goes to aquariums.food and such.hope to post new pictures soon.good luck to you. whatever you end up calling your royals they are very,very cool. RH

[joefish72]

Thanks everyone, It seems we all agree that L191 fits this little royal best. The other fish is an obvious L191 and is a much darker in coloring. I released them into my big community tank after a healthy feeding for the current residents. They made themselves right at home and had no problems finding a potato slice to munch on.

Thanks again for helping with the id

[nvcichlids]

im sort of confused also and have asked the same question on different occassions.as little as 15 yrs ago it seems all royals were easy to spot in dealers tanks because of the same basic football shape and those highly identifiable "royal pinstripes". as of late, enter the spotted royals,striped and spotted royals and all combinations thereof.not to mention the many seam colors and finage edge stripe colors,black,yellow,green,orange and even brown or red.maybe one of the experts can help us.i bought my two as royals but they still have some broken lines and even spots.i've seen the new watermelon plecs which they closely resemble.now at 12 inches each and 11 yrs.later,fully mustachioed,i'm satisfied just calling them "the royals".is this a new race?have the races been fused?maybe Mats or an expert can help us answer this question. sorry i have no pictures because i have no camera.all my allowance goes to aquariums.food and such.hope to post new pictures soon.good luck to you. whatever you end up calling your royals they are very,very cool. RH

Panaque nigrolineatus

would be my guess as it seems in some of the pictures (and in specimens I have had) when they start to mature the lines can break and cause some spots, some will still be completely striped, and others mixed (MatthewF correct me if I am wrong.. just going off my observations of the species and the description given)