Ancistrus

[retro_gk]

Hi all,
I've had these for about 2 years now. No idea about provenance, they were purchased in Singapore and I'm the third owner. Male in the picture is about 12cm TL. They seem to prefer meaty foods and are a touch more particular about water parameters (very soft) and spawning locations ("trapping" seems essential to the process) compared to the common cf. cirrhosus in the hobby. Spawn sizes have ranged from 80-100 eggs and the fry are easy to raise, reaching sexual maturity at 1 year old. Females have 4-6 short (1-2mm) bristles fringing the upper lip.

What are they? L181? L182? sp. Rio Ucayali?

[retro_gk]

Some pics of eggs and wrigglers. Don't have any useful pictures of juveniles at the moment.

[retro_gk]

Does no one have an opinion?

[MatsP]

Any particular reason to believe they are not "common bristlenose"?

--
Mats

[retro_gk]

(a) smaller, even spots
(b) bristles rarely bi/trifurcated
(c) much harder to spawn. The common ancistrus in the American hobby takes about as much effort to spawn as a pair of convicts. These are much pickier about water parameters and spawning locations
(d) pickier about diet