Bought as Chocolate Zebra Plec- mmmmm ?

[terrylen]

sorry about the photos guys, im hopeing that theyre good enough to id with though
What do you think - ive checked photos and the choc zebra plecs look different to me ! Any Idea what this is ?
Thanks

[JoePlec]

L104?

[MatsP]

Looks like

Panaque maccus

- but a photo of the mouth would confirm.

--
Mats

[terrylen]

Thanks guys i'll try and get a photo of its mouth tomorrow

[SharkAquarium]

My guess is L204, out of Peru.

g

[racoll]

Panaque maccus

[MatsP]

My guess is L204, out of Peru.

g

Could be if they are very scared or photos don't show true colour...

--
Mats

[terrylen]

I did clear the tank to get them out and photograph them - as far as its real color is concerned - im not sure .
It usually hides - i very rarely see it unless its swimming under logs, and then only briefly

[terrylen]

Something i should have said earlier is that its only about 2 and 1/2 inches long. dont know if that helps or not???

[JoePlec]

Size doesnt matter really unless you have an age to go with it. Im still saying L104 but hope its a L204 for you. Out of curiosity what did you pay for him/her

[PlecoCrazy]

I agree with

Panaque Maccus

[MatsP]

When they are settled

L204

is black with yellowish stripes where

Panaque maccus

is brown with beige/light brown stripes.

--
Mats

[dconnors]

Agree with Panaque maccus as well...

[JoePlec]

Ive always liked Panaque Maccus (L104) "Clown Plec".

Ive never understood why they are so cheap compared to "Flash Plecs" (L204).

[MatsP]

Ive always liked Panaque Maccus (L104) "Clown Plec".

Ive never understood why they are so cheap compared to "Flash Plecs" (L204).

Probably simply because it's much easier to catch the more widely distributed P. maccus, combined with the fact that the more contrasting pattern of L204 makes it a more stunning fish.

--
Mats

[terrylen]

I bought this from a lfs, it was advertised as a chocolate zebra at £20 and it was covered with whitespot and very skinny. At the time I thought it was touch and go wether it was going to survive or not - I really felt sorry for it and thats why i bought it. The shop was closing down at the time so i spoke with te owner and got it for £10 and got £10 credit for the new shop he was opening.

[Darren Balch]

100% L104 I have 3 myself which i am trying to condition for breeding. They are Nocturnal so rarely out in open for much of the day. They stay relatively small mine are all between 2 and 3 inches long. I've never paid more than £6 for a healthy one so I would be wary of the LFS who sold you a sick one for a tenner even if you did get credit. The flash plecos do get bigger and have slightly more elongated fins. When they're available where I live they are anywhere between £16 and £22 depending on size. Hope this helps.

[JoePlec]

Yeah £6 seems about right up here also.

[terrylen]

Yes - It was an impulse buy, i basically knew that if i left it in the shop it was going to die - I had called into the shop the day before and there was a betta in a bag lieing on the floor - when i called back the next day the betta was still in the bag on the floor. All the fish in the shop were emaciated , awfull condition. I know that they werent transferred to the new shop so my guess is that they were flushed

[MatsP]

Whilst I understand this, and I appreciate that you are doing this out of compassion for the fish, and I'm very happy that this one appears to have ended well, but it also encourages the shop to NOT care for their fish.

Further, it's very hard to compare prices for fish. Clearly £20 for a P. maccus is quite expensive, and £10 is not a great price either. But I have no idea what average fish-prices are in Northern Ireland, compared to England. Down here, I've seen Clown Pleco's selling at £8.95, and they aren't particularly big either.

And I still want to see the mouth shot of this fish, as I'm not 100% sure that it's a P. maccus - it looks like it, but a clear shot of the mouth and teeth will confirm this.

--
Mats

[JoePlec]

Well i say good on you for saving the fish. Price was high but then again £10 off in new shop means you paid nothing anyway really, I would go into the new shop and use the £10voucher on white spot medication to replace what you have used and then you got the fish for nothing. I personally feel shops like that should be named and shamed.

[Darren Balch]

I wasn't trying to start an argument I do just see a lot of fish poorly kept by "experts" in shops. The double standard being if it was a puppy or a kitten then they would face fines & possible prison sentences. I can't say I wouldn't have rescued that fish myself but it doesn't sound like very responsible shop owner attitude. I would certain steer clear of his new shop aswell, if these are the fish he is willing to sell you what the ones like he doesn't display.

[Proteus]

L204

if its over 2'' its L204

[JoePlec]

L204

if its over 2'' its L204

Care to share why you think this?

[dconnors]

L204

if its over 2'' its L204

Cat-e-log lists the size for Panaque maccus as 3.9" SL...I do not believe the original poster stated if it was standard length or total length, but they did say the fish was 'about' 2-2.5 inches long. I know,as stated earlier size+no age=no helpful information...I still say Panaque maccus although the pics are less than ideal.

[Proteus]

give me a picture of a Panaque maccus without any spotting on their head at this size as the head is just too clean for a maccus thats from my flawed view of what I had for both sp.

[dconnors]

Here is P. maccus
Here is L204
The thing that tells me that the fish in question is more likely P. maccus is the color of the pupil. I have also kept both species, so a little of my id is coming from personal experience...

[dconnors]

So terrylen, which of the above two images more closely matches your fish?

give me a picture of a Panaque maccus without any spotting on their head at this size as the head is just too clean for a maccus thats from my flawed view of what I had for both sp.

Give me a photo of a 204 that size that is that light in color...

[racoll]

The thing that tells me that the fish in question is more likely P. maccus is the color of the pupil.

Well spotted. Yes, this is clearly apparent in nearly all the P. maccus photos, but none of the L204 photos.

[Proteus]

some of the L204s have different colored pupils clearly like this



though I just rechecked mine and its eyes are different than this one- and what you provided- its different shaped however its a L204. mine's 5'' in length... will have to get pictures of it.
unlike the example of the specimen shown to contrast the difference between those two this was the first thing I looked though.

I'll say this:

I see both categories having different specimens having different pupil coloring here on PCF...

maccus pupil color photos from the image gallery: Both have different color pupils: