difference between L029 and L082

[jake]

best i can do with the camera i got. and now he is mad at me for moving hiom for the pic.

can anyone nelp me tell the difference between L029 galaxy plaeco and a L082 opal spotted pleco..my son bought it as a L082 galaxy pleco. need help to know their feeding requirments. they are only 3inches..

thanks for any help

[CharlieM9]

If you paid a reasonable amount, it is most likely a leporacanthicus, aka galaxy pleco. Pictures will help best for us to help you determine that, and thenwe can guide on care once IDd...

[Suckermouth]

L029

is a Leporacanthicus, so it has a few very long upper jaw teeth, hence why they're sometimes called vampire plecos. They should also have a relatively large bump on the back of their head, while in most plecos the back of the head smoothly transitions into the back. Also Leporacanthicus are kind of spiky. One characteristic that seems distinctive of

L082

is the shape of the body. In most plecos, there is a noticeable slope from the back of the head to the tail, but this slope is far more gentle in L082, to the point where the slopes of the belly and the back look nearly parallel. In addition, if you bought an L082 you would likely know for sure, since these are hundreds of dollars each.

Your picture doesn't quite look like either. Could be

Hypancistrus contradens

or

L201

, but I'm guessing that mostly because they're fairly common. There are quite a few plecos with dark bodies and light colored spots.

[jake]

i think my son said it was about 40$ canadian, have'nt seen any prices on L082 spotted opal pleco's.and he said they were wild caught.

[dconnors]

It appears to me that it is a Hypancistrus, probably contradens. They have very nice spots and are a very lovely fish to keep. If they were L82 they would have cost a lot more, like $200-$300 US dollars.