What Are These Plecos

[Bwhiskered]

I bought these fish from Snookn21 as L-184 plecos. When I posted pictures of them on Plecos.com I was told they could be L-289. Things got left in the air and I still don't know if they are a L-184 variant or L-289. The eggs are as big as the L-183 and are just as sensitive to hatch and raise. Makes it hard to sell some fry if you can not be sure of the species. Here are some pictures.

[MatsP]

Without AT LEAST knowing where it came from, it could be any number of different things. It could well be L184

Ancistrus sp(L107)

, but we're just comparing pictures of fish that look very similar (and quite possibly are variable as well).

We do not have a picture of L289, which makes me think they are far from common - not impossible that you get that, but it's LESS likely than a fish that is at least occuring in the trade.

--
Mats

[Barbie]

And to further cloud the issue, they do not look to be the fish that I currently have that were purchased as L184, but could possibly be LDA03 instead ;). I also have some of these fish that I purchased about the same time as L184. I'll be interested to hear what they are!

Barbie

[pleco_breeder]

I've also spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what these fish were. I got 2 different species in my groups. One species I have yet to find anything similar to. The ones like yours, I have been assuming were

Ancistrus sp(l370)

. At least that is the closest pics I've been able to find that actually have a number attached.

Larry Vires

[Borbi]

Hi,

would you by any chance have a picture showing the caudal fin?
The caudal in L 107 is rather unique.

L 370 should be easily verified (or falsified) as a viable option by the body shape: L 107 resembles A. ranunculus, while L 370 should have the "standard Ancistrus" body shape (i.e., no flattened head).

Cheers, Sandor

[Bwhiskered]

It was also interesting that at the time I bought these fish from Snookn21 The Fish Place in North Tonawanda also had an identical shipment that they were selling as L-184. I'll try and get a tail shot.
The only picture of the L-289 that I have been able to find is in Aqualogs L number book. It does look like this fish. Since most of the black white spotted ancistrus plecos all come from the Rio Negro is it not possible that hey are all just variants of one species. Maybe someone will do a study and come up with the answer.

[Bwhiskered]

Here is a shot of the tail of an adult and another shot of a 8 month old juvenile showing a slight band of white on the tail and dorsal.

Pleco 1.jpg (65.42 KiB) Viewed 2627 times

[Borbi]

Hi,

definitely not L 107/L 184.

By the way, @Barbie (only just saw that):
Ingo Seidel recently concluded that LDA03 is "only" an exceptionally nicely coloured specimen of L 184.
We actually have some breeders here in Germany who try to breed a lineage with large spots, just like LDA03 (and they are "in the process of succeeding").

Cheers, Sandor

[CoryWally]

Don't forget to have a look at Ingo's great article here: http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... istlenoses

Looks like my L249's.

Cheers,
Mark.

[sunfish]

L289 was a single specimen with a deformed (shark-like) dorsal. Afaik no others have been found. So I would rule out L289.

My closest match would also be L71/181/249, but that's by no means certain.

The problem with the "dark with light dots"-Ancistrus is, that there are loads of different species that (in most cases) are very hard (impossible) to ID. So people in shops usually just pick a number.

[DJ-don]

My closest match would also be L71/181/249, but that's by no means certain.

i would think so too judging by the white streams on its tail fin.
my L071 has the same white seams too but starts to lose it as it gets older.

[Bwhiskered]

After looking at Ingo's pictures I am inclined to agree that they are L-071. Importers can never be sure that the number given by their supplier is the correct one.

[jbmm]

I heard L370 only keeps its white tip on the tail when aging...
(see http://www.nature2aqua.de/BilderSeiten/ ... /index.php)