PlanetCatfish.com

I picked up a rubbernose plec today. It's basically a slate gray color with black spots although in some light his base color takes on a brownish hue. Mostly though you would say he's gray, that's the overall impression.
I've looked at the pictures of the Milesi and they appear gray and look much like this one. Some of the pictures of the 187a's also appear to be gray but not all of them.
Are Milesi commonly imported? If not then should I assume a 187a?

thanks
Kim

Chaetostoma milesi should have white tips to its caudal fin (but not L187a). If yours doesn't, then it's L187a (these seem more commonly imported than C. milesi).

I believe L 187a is the "real" C. milesi. Most of the photos in the Cat-elog labeled C. milesi are photos I took in Venezuela. Schultz (1945) collected at almost the exact same spot I collected the fish in the Cat-elog. Schultz noted differences between his Venezuelan specimens (collected in the Orinoco basin) and C. milesi as described from the Rio Magdalena basin in Colombia, but decided they were the same species
So what are we left with? The proper scientific name for the Venezuelan fish is C. milesi. That said, I am sure that they represent a different sp. just waiting to be described. The Venezuelan "C. milesi" (easily identifiable by the white tips on the upper and lower caudal fin tips)is not exported but the Colombian C. milesi (aka L 187a) is exported in large numbers via Bogota.
-Shane

no white tips. thanks guys for the extra clarification. these pleco id's are complicated!