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I found this striking Panaqolus in a tank of P. maccus (or P. sp L448). They had apparently all come in the same shipment. Is it an unusually patterned clown plec or another species? Opinions?
Apologies for crappy phone pics .

It looks like it may be some type of peckoltia, but would need a mouth shot to verify this. It is an awesome looking fish regardless of what it is though!

I'm not an expert, and your photos aren't great but:

To me it looks like a L134 Leopard Frog Pleco . It has the yellow/black colors and the typical vertical stripes over his face.

*comments welcome*


/Nils

Thanks for the responses. I am as sure as can be that it is not a Peckoltia but a Panaqolus. Seeing it next to the clown plecs it is identical in shape, size of the eye, mouth, fins, etc. I am veering towards it being an unusual clown plec individual, but open to alternative suggestions.

panaque wrote:I am as sure as can be that it is not a Peckoltia but a Panaqolus.

While I agree that (in particular for me) the snout coloration resembles many Panaqolus, I too am otherwise leaning towards a Peckoltia. A photo of the teeth and mouth would be helpful.

Cheers, Eric

Thanks Eric. I can see where everyone is coming from, saying 'Peckoltia'. However, I've kept several species of Panoqolus and Peckoltia over the years and I am certain this is a Panaqolus. For one, the eyes seem much too small for a Peckoltia at this size (4cm). So humor me, assume it is a Panaqolus and tell me what you think. Note that this is wild import, so presumably from rough same collecting area/country as clown plecs.
My plan is to raise it with its regular clown plec companions for 6 months and then pull it out for a detailed photo shoot before deciding whether or not to add it to a breeding group.

If we assume that it was captured in the wild with P. maccus then it is most likely L 448 (although I have collected many L 448 and never seen one this pretty).
Above said, many fish get mixed up at collection centers in Villavicencio, exporters in Bogota, transhippers in Florida, etc. So I would not be too quick to rule out that.
Regardless, great fish and I hope it keeps those colors as it grows.
-Shane

Considering the average chimp can probably ID fish better than I can, my first reaction was P. compta as well. Many years ago I acquired a wild caught pair of P. compta which I had to sell to make room for other fish. They are two of the most striking pretty and bright yellow colored ones I have ever seen, Before I sent them out I snapped a picture of them. You can see it here https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-hRL ... kbqn-L.jpg (I did not want to clutter your thread with my picture). Also I am not sure if it helps.

Clearly the clown and leopard frog come from locations that in no way should ever be interconnected. But considering than many fish illegally collected in Brazil are smuggled into other S.A. countries for export, it is still possible for both fish to end up in Colombia I think. How hard would it be for a P. compta to get into a bag of zebra plecos and other fish being snuck across a border?

For me this is not Peckoltia Compta. The eye of this fish does look like Panaque/Panaqolus. The white circle inside the eye is also present on Panaque Maccus species.
So I'm going with exceptional/nice colour morph of Panaque Maccus species ;)

Thanks all. Having observed the fish for a few days I am pretty certain it is the same species as the ones it came in with, which are either or but probably the latter. I'll revisit this thread with better pictures when they have all grown a bit.

Just found this on the L-Welse page on L448 (http://www.l-welse.com/reviewpost/showp ... oduct/1566), in a series of photos showing the variation in this species: