ID my Pleco

[ccg]

What kind of pleco do I have?

He has been in my tank for about a year and eats lots, but has grown very little. He was given to me by a friend and was kept in a 10 gallon for a long time, so maybe his growth has been stundted. Anyhow, theses are the best two picuters I can get of him:

 

[ccg]

Pic 2:

 

[Acrobit]

I don't know anything about plecos, but that looks a lot like just your average common plec to me. He's very cute.

 

[ccg]

It could be a common plec, I thought it might be.

But in another thread when I posted pics of my tank a few said it looked like a sail fin plec, so I wanted to make sure.

 

[Torrean]

Yeah that's what i was thinking when I saw it. I think it is a sailfin pleco. Commons have big (oh what's the word) dorsal fins, but not that big. I'm pretty sure it's a sailfin.

 

[ccg]

hmmm.

Well I guess we'll have to wait untill a pleco expert comes acorss this thread. I'll love him no matter what he is, and I think its cool that he appears to be done growing. Not sure if his growth is a side effect from being kept in a 10 gallon for a long time or some sort of birth defect. Anyways, he is living happily in a 35 gallon right now with a group of barbs.

 

[Jen]

What is that he is eating in the first picture? It almost looks like cantalope.

 

[LoachLover]

Looks like a common to me, but I don't know much about plecos. Nice looking fish though

 

[ccg]

He is eating sweet potato's that have been cooked of course. He loves them more then anything else he gets. Actually all my fish seem to love it, they only get it during the summer months though when it is in season in my area.

 

[kevin007]

it's a common...i have a common pleco before..it does have BIG dorsal fins..it's stunted but still cute..mine was 7 inches in 4 months..it's gone to my lfs now

 

[bunjiweb]

Well, it looks vaugly like a common,but the pattern is slightly different so I think it could be L87, L195 or L192 looking at pictures in my book.... there are various Hypostomus species that it could be..... There are also species such as the Liposarcus multiradiatus that it could even be.... just have to see more pictures..

Ben

 

[Morrgan]

A nice-looking pleco!

Your fish has 8 fin rays in his dorsal, so I'd guess he's a Hypostomus sp., some species of common pleco. The exact species of Hypostomus is impossible to say, because there are many similar-looking ones like that.

The sailfin plecos have 13 rays in their dorsal fin.

 

[ccg]

Wow thanks for all the help everyone. I really appreciate it. Years ago I owned a common plec and he looked a tad different than this one, and he grew to be about 7 inches. So that made me start to wonder. Also some people suggested he wasnt a common, so I needed to know. Now I do, thanks again..

 

[Erised]

Honestly, I dont think its a common at all. The pattern (like said before) is really different, and so is the colour. Also, the size is way off though this might be because it got stunted in the 10G

I'd not get my mind set on a common just yet.

 

[Morrgan]

The problem is that what is called a common pleco might be a dozen or so similar-looking, but different, species. Thus the patterning may vary. It might be impossible to get a definite ID, but you might want to look at the Cat E-Log at Planet Catfish for images. I'd start with the Hypostomus family.

You could also post on their forums, they might be able to give you more answers.