12" Plec, has very fine spikes all over his body?

[antwarby]

Please can anybody tell me what my fish is?

I bought this "lil" chap about 5 years ago as a common plec when i was living at my parents, But i dont think he is common.

There tank became very dirty as my dad didnt have the time so i brought him to my house he is 12" in lengh he has tiny little spikes all over his body, which stuck instantly to the net.

When i brought him to my home his eyes was very cloudy im assuming due to the dirty conditions he was living in, they have cleared up a lot but im not sure they will ever be right?

He is currently in a 3 foot tank and i want to move him to my bigger tank how can i handle him with least distress?

Any information on him/her would be great.

http://payghosting.net/plec/3.JPG
http://payghosting.net/plec/7.JPG
http://payghosting.net/plec/2.JPG

[MatsP]

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

.

--
Mats

[antwarby]

Pterygoplichthys pardalis

.

--
Mats

Yes i think that could be my guy, is he likely to be fully grown now? and what is the best way to handle him to move him to a new tank?

Thanks in advance

[MatsP]

"Fully grown" is probably not quite, but it's growing slower than when they are small. They arenot unusual to be 18-20" total length.

Handling: It's probably easiest to catch it with a pair of work-gloves. Another method that works is to give it a cave that you can block (with your hand for example), and just lift the whole thing out...

--
Mats

[antwarby]

"Fully grown" is probably not quite, but it's growing slower than when they are small. They arenot unusual to be 18-20" total length.

Handling: It's probably easiest to catch it with a pair of work-gloves. Another method that works is to give it a cave that you can block (with your hand for example), and just lift the whole thing out...

--
Mats

I have noticed plec reffered to as L numbers does my plec have a shart name?

[Lutt]

I will say Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps cause they have a higher body and a different pattern than a pardalis.
I can also see that you have a pardalis in the third pic.

[MatsP]

I have noticed plec reffered to as L numbers does my plec have a shart name?

There is no L-number for P. pardalis. If Lutt is right - and it may be so, I thought P. gibbiceps had a different pattern to them, more of a network pattern to the head. It doesn't make a huge difference, and the pictures are a bit unclear. P. gibbiceps has two L-numbers, but technically only for certain wild forms from specific rivers, and your fish probably came from a breeder in Southeast Asia...

--
Mats

[antwarby]

Im going to take some more pics of him right now i have a better camera now.

[nicofish]

I beg to differ with l83

if you look at it it has dots l83 seems to have more like spotches. this pleco seems to have more like finer dots

hybridization could be a possibility right?


I think its L347

[antwarby]

I will say Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps cause they have a higher body and a different pattern than a pardalis.
I can also see that you have a pardalis in the third pic.

Some better pictures for you to look at.

http://payghosting.net/plec/11.jpg
http://payghosting.net/plec/12.jpg
http://payghosting.net/plec/13.jpg
http://payghosting.net/plec/14.jpg
http://payghosting.net/plec/15.jpg

See what you think

[MatsP]

Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps

. Definitely.

--
Mats

[nicofish]

I take that back the p. gibbiceps I agree

I hadnt seen the last pics sorry

[racoll]

This fish is certainly

Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps

.

I have a gibbiceps and its dots are much larger.

The size of the dots decreases proportionally as the fish gets larger. They are quite variable anyway.

L347

is a wild caught fish, and is very rare in the trade. The number of P. gibbiceps from Asian breeders must outnumber these a million to one.

(I dont kow how to clog)

There are two ways, the easiest is to navigate to the cat-elog page and scroll down to the bottom. In "Further Information >> Cool Links >> BBcode" you can copy/paste the entire text from the box into the thread.

The other is quicker, but you need to spell the name of the fish correctly - you click the "clog" button (above where you write a post, second from right between "Font color" and "youtube"), then enter the species name. It's not case sensitive, but you do need the space. Like so...

Code: Select all

[clog]Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps[/clog]

If the fish has an L number, you can just use these straight in the clog tags too. That's dead easy.

Code: Select all

[clog]L347[/clog]

[nicofish]

got it thanks

good to know