sexing L052

RiC · Post by **RiC** » 16 Jan 2004, 19:09

Hi, I'm new to the forum

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I've been doing searches to try to determine the sex of my Zonancistrus sp (L052, Butterfly pl*co) - no luck yet. Would anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » 17 Jan 2004, 00:59

Hello,

L52 are easy to sex, but have to be 4 inches or more before they're obvious. Males get a very heavy growth of odontodes on the pectoral fin ray.

Larry Vires

Post by **Shane** » 17 Jan 2004, 15:20

I do not lightly disagree with Larry, but I have found these fish impossible to sex. The problem is that both males and females grow heavy odontodes on the pectoral fins. We get in shipments of hundreds of these fish at a time from the Rio Atabapo (its Spanish name is Atapabo pleco). I have looked through huge populations to try to pick out a male and a female and have never managed to see any differences. I once picked up some that had fewer odonotodes, in hopes they were females, and they slowly over the next few months grew odontodes to match all the other specimens I had on hand. My best advice would be to go with six or more specimens and let them sort it out. With time you should be able to recognize the sexes by behavior. The only other way, and this only works with a large male in breeding condition, is to look at the male's pectoral fins. A mature male will have red pectoral fins.
Pick these fish up while you can! There was a huge demand for them and so collectors started bringing in thousands of them. Right now there is more supply than demand and they are retailing for about US $.30 each. Since they have to be flown to Bogota, it is no longer cost effective to collect them. In time the demand will catch up and the price will rise but do not expect to see any more of these for a while until it does.
-Shane

azn_phil · Post by **azn_phil** » 18 Jan 2004, 01:52

nice!! I'm going to pick up 5+ of them
Shane and other experienced ppl can u please look at my post regarding breeding of these guys?

RiC · Post by **RiC** » 18 Jan 2004, 15:34

How confusing

!
But thanks for the replies

I'm afraid I can't have several of these guys together, he/she is in a 40 gal. Or could I

Post by **Shane** » 18 Jan 2004, 16:57

This is a poor photo, but it shows the pectoral of a mature male. Note the red color.
These are mellow and fairly inactive fish. They get along well with each other and rarely fight. A 40 gallon tank would be fine for six. They need very flat caves to spawn in. The cave should be six inches long by three inches wide by about one inch high. Ingo Seidel has breed them regularly and considers them one of the easier sp. to spawn. Of course that is coming from Ingo!
-Shane

azn_phil · Post by **azn_phil** » 18 Jan 2004, 18:45

nice!!! i will definitely piock up 5+ of these guys while they're still available...i think i could fit more in my 40 gallon long (its 40inch long X 18 wide

RiC · Post by **RiC** » 18 Jan 2004, 21:26

That's pretty good news indeed

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Thanks for the pic and the info. I can't see the red line on mine, but it's pretty difficult because he/she is very shy.
Mine is a 40 gal high, I don't think 6 would make it fine

. Maybe 4? but if I get 4 males, I might get into trouble, even if they usually get along well together?

pleco_breeder · Post by **pleco_breeder** » 20 Jan 2004, 18:23

Shane,

I had never noticed the red ends to to pectoral fins on these fish. I've seen it in a few other species and have always been able to notice that the males pectoral ray becomes swollen as the ray takes on that color change. Is it also the case with these fish? Mine were always spawned in tanks too heavily decorated to see when I kept them.

In my earlier post, I forgot to mention the fact that both fish get the pectoral odontodes. IMO, it's still obvious that the male gets more numerous and longer odontodes than the female. However, it could just be that my male was about 1 1/2 inch longer than either female that caused the perception.

Larry Vires