PlanetCatfish.com

Hi all, as per title [more than likely easily answered by you experts] but recently a friend of mine asked me why plecs have L numbers and I couldn't answer her so I thought I'd better come to the best catfish resource and try and find out is it simply for researchers to identify easily or is there something more to it? so if any of you guys can clear this up for me that'd be great.. thanks in advance

Iain

The L/LDA number system came about because we discovered so many species in such a small amount of time that there is simply not enough time to give them full scientific names. So the L numbers and LDA numbers are just temporary until they are fully identified.

I can understand the numbers as so many are undescribed, but what is the reason that they are L and not P or Q or any other letter? Is it that they are Loricaria??

Thanks

Hi!

Not Loricaria but Loricariidae and LDA means Loricariidae Das Aquarium (name of a german magazine)

It's all explained here.