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A few weeks ago I bought 5 fish under the name of L206. Dutchfry told me on a Dutch forum that it where not the Panaque's I wanted to buy, but that it where Pleckoltia. He thought it where L205, or L147. Perhaps you can give your thoughts about these fish. It would be nice end up being sure that it is a surten species.

This are the best pics I have so far:




Stressed in the bag they came in:





If you need more pics, or pics from a surten angle, please tell me and I will try to make them.

It`s not L-206. I assume it`s L-147. But if L-147 is a Peckoltia is hard to say these days.

E

Purely from an aquarists point of view, I think you might be better of

Plecoltia does need lots of wood, these eat more veggie matter, and perhaps an odd mosquito larvae. further, they might be more active during daytime (I never saw my panaque) and will grow somewhat larger

but, most certain, they are not Panaque maccus or any similar looking species

Hi,

provided all fish have spotted bellies (like it´s visible in the first two pictures; does not need to be that apparent, however) they should all be Ancistomus sp. "L 147", if you recognize this genus. Otherwise you are free to pick from Peckoltia or Hemiancistrus, whichever suits you best. The L-Number won´t change, however..

Cheers, Sandor

so it's L147 after all....

that's a shame for you, T4FR, since they are not from the rio Ucayali, and you have a rio Ucayali tank!

Yeah if it really are L147 I am not so happy. They get a bit to big for my tank (imho) and they totaly dont fit in my Rio Ucayali Biotoop.

That's why I am a bit reluctant to just accept that they are L147. Can you explain to me why you think it are L147's and not L205's?

I dont know if all my fish have spotted belly's, It is hard to tell them apart or to see them all at once, but i will try to keep an eye on there belly's. L205's can also have spotted belly's, so I gues it is hard to use the belly to tell them apart, right?

Hi,

I didn´t intend to use the belly marks to distinguish your fish from P. sp. "L 205"..
That´s just the most certain way to tell them apart from L 387, which can look very similar to your L 147, if the L 147 are not fully grown.

Why isn´t it L 205? The easy way would be to say it doesn´t "fit the pattern"..
L 205 should have smaller spots on the head, with much more space between the individual spots. Also, the body should not be that markedly spotted, if it was L 205. In L 147 instead, the spots become gradually bigger from head to caudal and hence cover the whole body, as compared to spots equally sized and roughly only up to the caudal fin.

Does that help?

Sandor

Hmm...

That spotted head thing does indeed sapperate my fish from the L205.
Sadly.
But clearly.

By the L387 there is no photo of a belly. What does there belly look like?
And last but not least, should my fish be L147 (which they most likely are) will there tails become more and more spotted instead of stiped like they are now?

Hi,

the belly of L 387 has no markings at all (i. e., it´s mostly white). Regarding your L 147, I cannot tell you, but I would expect some variation in tail fin colouration to be within the margin of variability within the species. But someone keeping grownout adults should be able to tell you.

Cheers, Sandor

Sandor, Erlend and Bas, thank you for your answers and explanations!

Now I know what species it most likely are and which they are not. In some (2-24) months I might need your help again, when I sold these fish and do another atemped to buy a group of Rio Ucayali Loricaridae!

Thanks for now!