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Not the worlds best photo but I imagine it might be sufficient. i can try and get more photos, but what could we assume him to be?


He was sold as a medusa pleco, the ranunculus type. True? False?

I didn't pay much for him, but would love to know. What kind of photos might help more? Top down? for some reason my camera wont focus on him where he is, but I don't want to move him too much as a new addition.

You can't see it very clearly, but he does have orange on his dorsal and caudal.

Looks like a L-34 Medusa to me.

Definately Ancistrus ranunculus and I am thinking male

I've begun to wonder if exporters ever send any females since the "Medusa Effect' is only possible by only selling the males.

Larry,
Collectors often are paid less, or even not at all, for females because they are not "bushynose" plecos.
-Shane

Thanks all.

I havent seen it since the photo...

Shane,
Are you saying that females have absolutely no bristles at all? Not even along the lip?

Are you saying that females have absolutely no bristles at all? Not even along the lip?

It varies from sp to sp with the females of some having tentacles along the outer edge of the rostrum and others showing no tentacle growth at all. Either way, collectors are often only paid for large males with a full growth of tentacles. The problem really originates with middlemen who are told to acquire "bushynose" plecos from collectors. They are therefore not paying for an individual fish that does not have a bushynose, since their list says specifically "bushynose." Local collectors are likely very aware of the differences between males and females. Middlemen and exporters may not or may think that importers will demand a refund for the specimens that do not have tentacles.
-Shane

Hi!

Yeap Ancistrus ranunculus and the specimen picture here is a lovely female!!
Cheers
Yann

The odontodes on mine have turned a glittery gold on the pectoral and dorsal fins. Probably 10X as much as the orange showing in the pic above. Could this possibly be breeding colors? I didn't want to disturb the fish if they are getting ready to spawn. But I'll try to get pics, when I can.

the specimen picture here is a lovely female!!

Well there you go, I have some myself(3 months) but haven't gotten around to sexing them, so far I'm just happy to know mine are alive and eating.

I apologise for the crappy pic, but this is setup as a breeding tank...and I don't want to disturb the fish. The gold color was twice as bright before...and was also on the odontodes of the pectoral fins. Could this be spawning colors?

Until they color up better, this is probably the best pic I can get.