Scientific Name

Hypancistrus sp. (L260)  , 1998     

Common Name(s)

L260, Queen Arabesque Pleco

Type Locality

Rio Tapajós, Pará, Brazil

Pronunciation

hype an siss truss

Etymology

A contraction of the Greek hypo (meaning less than) and ancistrus, an allusion to the reduced number of teeth (particularly in the lower jaw) found in this genus. 

Size

90mm (3.5") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Similar to L066, but has spots as well as (generally thinner) stripes. Ultimately a smaller, more squat fish than L066. Shares the same colour pattern as Pseudolithoxus tigris (L257).

Sexing

Males slightly bigger, longer interopercular, pectoral odontodes than those on the female. Males also have plate odontodes. The hard ray of the pectoral fins are broader, head wider and longer. Males from this species also seems to have a belly that is marble (totally or partially), females however have all white bellies.

Distribution

Rio Tapajós, Pará, Brazil
Amazon, Tapajós   (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

pH

6.4 - 7.6

Temperature

23.0-28.0°C or 73.4-82.4°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

Water should not have any nitrites and as few nitrates as possible. Dissolved oxygen level as high as possible. Fast current.

Feeding

A definite carnivore, and absolutely not an algae eater. Not picky, take a wide variety of live and frozen food such as bloodworms, brine shrimps, gammarus. Tablets, especially those with high percentage of Spirulina are also recommended.

Furniture

Fine sand, as much cave as possible, the one in the current will be the preferred ones. Driftwood but only for aesthetic purpose as they don't chew it. Dim light Plants can be kept as L260 don't eat them.

Compatibility

Peaceful but males will be territorial with each other in confined space.

Suggested Tankmates

Choose tankmates wisely as these fish do not compete well for food with particularly fast or aggressive tankmates.

Breeding

Has been bred in captivity. Follow details in Shane's World article.

Registered Keepers

(1) Yann (k: 2), who also notes: "The second Hypancistrus I managed to bred back in 2003", (2) fischling, (3) Ak Viking (k: 21), (4) mikey, (5) CatBrat, (6) Stubob, (7) Cory-Diddi, (8) Tulio, (9) fish fodder (k: 3), (10) funkyj1313, (11) Barbie, (12) plecoready, (13) vriesea (k: 8), who also notes: "Bought 6 from Aquarium Concepts at $30 each. Will try and breed. Bought 3 at PCCA at $16/each. These are about 1.5 inches.", (14) ThorG, (15) adimeatatime (k: 2), (16) amergim, (17) alga (k: 9), (18) arabesque, (19) zhallam, (20) drgold (k: 8), (21) Tuti, (22) mikelouth (p: 2), (23) azfisher (k: 6), (24) pureplecs (k: 16), who also notes: "Mix of Wild and F1", (25) chris 1 (k: 3), (26) apistomaster (k: 15), who also notes: "One of my favorites. Had 21 but lost one tank of six due to heater malfunction. These are my most difficult to breed Hypancistrus and their fry grow very slowly. Takes me about 1 year to raise a fry to 1-5/8" TL. Their fry can not compete well with faster growing pleco fry so keep them alone. I lost many learning this the hard way.", (27) loafingloach, who also notes: "pretty pleco. seems it is just as territorial as my female abristlenose. he held his ground even though he was smaller. only really see him when food comes falling from heaven, otherwise hes tucked in a crack between a plant and a log in a good bit", (28) gupebreedr (k: 6), who also notes: "6 Queens added to my collection. Currently housed in a 56 gal tank.", (29) Zebra46 (k: 10), (30) Daragh, (31) Brotox (p: 4), (32) Darren C, (33) Freakdaddy (k: 8), (34) FreshwaterJeff, who also notes: "Purchased from a local breeder as a very, very young juvenile. Cause of death unknown - disappeared and was never found.", (35) barksten (p: 2, k: 6), who also notes: "I got them when they where 4 months old. They where bred in Stockholm.", (36) saltcop, (37) Riley, (38) DutchFry, (39) henryrus, (40) whiteymoza, (41) plecoboy, (42) jbmm (p: 6, k: 12), who also notes: "bought after Hannover convention, in Bielefeld from Marc", (43) layzmob, (44) plugger1969, (45) Plecofanatic1989 (k: 2), (46) Catfish66 (k: 2), who also notes: "In a 80 cm (appr. 110 litre) tank. I hope they will breed.", (47) neon, (48) Selveste_Preben, (49) magnar30, (50) goodmike (k: 3), (51) trini_100, (52) glenny, (53) Dave_C, (54) gemjunkie, (55) nooneknows (k: 2), (56) Koen (k: 2), (57) alexmuchtar, (58) sthomas048 (k: 2), (59) jburke11, (60) LUISGOREY (p: 2), (61) CoryLoachFreak, (62) NHL (k: 8), (63) misscoolkitty, (64) weisel (k: 6), (65) ashik (k: 3), (66) firenzenz (k: 2), (67) TheWetArm (k: 4), (68) ZedMuir, (69) SoCalDiscus, (70) loloveto, (71) Borbi (k: 10), (72) briggadane (k: 2), (73) jopbgon, (74) Numbers, (75) Birger Amundsen, (76) NewFishKeeper, (77) DaveW (k: 4), (78) zedogz (p: 5), (79) JeffrD, (80) Algaedarling, (81) soltarii007 (k: 4), (82) 78bill, (83) joviman, (84) genes, (85) djwalker124 (p: 2), (86) Pungen (k: 2), (87) krzys (k: 2), (88) Merlinmaus, (89) krazyGeoff, (90) Wgm (k: 2), (91) lighting (p: 2), (92) Holey_Rock_of_Texas (k: 8), (93) PlecoCrazy (p: 2, k: 12), (94) AndrewC (k: 3), (95) LRKeefer (k: 2), (96) Lihn (k: 15), (97) AleGer (k: 2), (98) foley, (99) Dave, (100) tinman_rlg, (101) ofird, who also notes: "9 cm Brazil Queen Arabesque Pleco A definite carnivore ", (102) BevN, (103) johnpeezy, (104) shadowcat (k: 3), (105) ariefputranto, (106) Sutrisno, (107) st24rsap, (108) Bacce, (109) Hitch (k: 7), (110) Janne Josefsson, (111) tinycichlid1, (112) buller42 (k: 2), (113) leej24 (k: 4), (114) spikeyface, (115) jprp, (116) ewurm, (117) claro, (118) Billybob, (119) Juand15, (120) Bjørn, (121) TomK (k: 5), (122) MarkN, (123) ayrtoninst (k: 4), (124) Elisabeth Dahl (k: 45), (125) X-Tank, (126) andreogmikela (p: 2), (127) drpleco (k: 11), (128) misscoturnix, (129) svenrhapsody, (130) Sapuhias, (131) nkm68, (132) Tallblue (k: 5), (133) andresont (p: 3), (134) jac (k: 4), who also notes: "First spawn 10-7-'10.", (135) Suckermouth (p: 2, k: 7), (136) matti2uude (k: 3), (137) djtonyel (k: 2), (138) scat35, (139) blueface1 (p: 3), (140) adcc, (141) NC24, (142) Donald (k: 6), (143) monkiecat (k: 4), (144) Raina, (145) plecomanpat, (146) jakeowen, (147) WoonyFishMan, (148) janne dahle (k: 10), (149) ichtyophile, (150) kouen, (151) FFTRIP (p: 2), (152) Miss_Cain, (153) Decker504, (154) geminiluna (k: 3), who also notes: "In my experience, hardy and tolerant of occasional aquarium mishaps or lapses in tank maintenance. Not at all suitable for territorial tank mates and does not compete well for food. Shy and prefers to stay hidden - will not be your "center piece" fish.", (155) Tchitchou44, (156) brechtvh, (157) Rita Aspevik (k: 5), (158) lukan, (159) duequattro, (160) yeyoone (k: 3), (161) galactuz, (162) Andypex (k: 5), who also notes: "5 F1 juveniles at around 2 inch SL as of Jan 2012".

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Breeding Reports

(1) Suckermouth (b: 42).

More Resources

- Shane's World Reproduction Breeding Hypancistrus sp. Queen Arabesque L260
- CotM 2007 September
- Search Planet Catfish for more on Hypancistrus sp. (L260)
- BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts)
- Look up Hypancistrus sp. (L260) on AquaticRepublic.com
- Look up Hypancistrus sp. (L260) on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search.
- URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)

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Last Update

2010 Apr 11 05:42 (species record created: 2001 May 05 00:00)