What's my pleco? Rubber lip?

[captmicha]

I got this guy from a LFS. He's colored up after being in my main tank with plenty of algae and bogwood. It would be nice to know a species. I don't see any plates, just smooth skin and spotting. It's about 1 1/2" long right now.

[captmicha]

This might be a better picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/ ... 89f8e6.jpg

Sorry, it's over 800 pixels high.

[Silurus]

It's a common bristlenose.

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

[captmicha]

GREAT! I won't end up with some huge monster pleco! Do the bristles grow when the fish get older?

[Nitwig]

If it is male it will get a nice growth of bristles after a while. If it is female it will either get no bristles or very tiny ones. If the female does develop bristles it will be later in life and then only usually around the lip.