Otocinclus flexilis • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Female
Male
Dorsal view
Ventral view
Close-up of upper body
Ventral / head-on view
Close-up of head
Fright / night colouration
Group
'Mimicking'

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Otocinclus flexilis** Cope, 1894
Common Name(s)	Peppered Oto
Type Locality	Rio Jacuhy [Jacuí], Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Synonym(s)	Macrotocinclus flexilis, Otocinclus arnoldi, Otocinclus fimbriatus
Pronunciation	auto SINK luss - flex ill iss
Etymology	Greek, ous, oto = ear + Latin, cinclus = latticework; in allusion to the holes of the head in the ears.
Species Information
Size	54mm (2.1") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	An easy species of Otocinclus to identify although two colour forms exist. One with a more pronouced darker and lighter "peppering" and one with a more regular pattern. This variance aside, the colouration is the same as the common peppered Cory, Corydoras paleatus. Coloration of individual otos vary with mood. Normal coloration is beige with spots, but this species (in presumed breeding mode) turn darker, and may become almost black.
Sexing	Females are considerably larger than males and fuller in girth.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Middle and lower Paraná/Paraguay, Uruguay and La Plata basins and Atlantic coastal streams of southeastern Brazil. La Plata , Uruguay (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	6.5 - 7.8
Temperature	20.0-25.0°C or 68-77°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	2-25 dGH.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	New imports can be tricky to acclimatize to prepared foods, but once this hurdle is overcome (using frozen bloodworm and algae wafers) they feed greedily.
Furniture	Less reliant on plants than other Otocinclus species, nevertheless, tall leaved plants like Vallisneria provide habitat and shade for these species that also appreciate vertical wood surfaces but generally move around the aquarium without preference. Gravel or sand may be used.
Compatibility	A highly social, diurnal and hardy species. Slightly aggressive (more akin to slightly larger loricariids); they defend food albiet half-heartedly, and dominate Corydoras at feeding time but not to the other species detriment. Also when kept with Corydoras paleatus, the Corys appear fooled by the oto mimics, and often follow them around, gulp air at the same time the otos do, and even male corys display to otos. The otos on the other hand seem aware which fish are conspecifics, as they're noticeably more aggressive towards the corys than to each other. Perhaps the bright white opercular diverticulum serves as a recognition signal for the otos? They have a curious behaviour that they nibble at each other and corys at the base of the dorsal fin, something which is apparently very unpleasant for the receiving fish - it looks like aggressive/dominance behaviour.
Suggested Tankmates	Keep in groups (preferably at least six) with any small to mid-sized community fish.
Breeding	It is reported that smaller male fish 'dance' in front of larger fish, 'nudge' the larger fish in the region of the cloaca, and also follow them around very closely. Actual reproduction is unreported.
Further Information
References	Proc. Am. Philos. Soc.v. 33 - pp97 - Pl. 8 [7] (figs. 13, 13a-b)
Registered Keepers	(1) irshprncsk, (2) alderfish (k: 6), (3) DrunkenPanda (k: 8), (4) SHEAG35 (k: 4). Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species. Add this species to your "my cats" page.
Breeding Reports	None.
More Resources	- CotM 2009 May - Search Planet Catfish for more on Otocinclus flexilis - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Otocinclus flexilis on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Otocinclus flexilis on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	26199 hits.
Last Update	2006 Nov 08 01:12 (species record created: 2004 Aug 21 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Otocinclus flexilis Cope, 1894

Common Name(s)

Peppered Oto

Type Locality

Rio Jacuhy [Jacuí], Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Synonym(s)

Macrotocinclus flexilis, Otocinclus arnoldi, Otocinclus fimbriatus

Pronunciation

auto SINK luss - flex ill iss

Etymology

Greek, ous, oto = ear + Latin, cinclus = latticework; in allusion to the holes of the head in the ears.

Species Information

Size

54mm (2.1") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

An easy species of Otocinclus to identify although two colour forms exist. One with a more pronouced darker and lighter "peppering" and one with a more regular pattern. This variance aside, the colouration is the same as the common peppered Cory, Corydoras paleatus. Coloration of individual otos vary with mood. Normal coloration is beige with spots, but this species (in presumed breeding mode) turn darker, and may become almost black.

Sexing

Females are considerably larger than males and fuller in girth.

Habitat Information

Distribution

South America: Middle and lower Paraná/Paraguay, Uruguay and La Plata basins and Atlantic coastal streams of southeastern Brazil.
La Plata Show it on a map

, Uruguay

(hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

6.5 - 7.8

Temperature

20.0-25.0°C or 68-77°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

2-25 dGH.

Husbandry Information

Feeding

New imports can be tricky to acclimatize to prepared foods, but once this hurdle is overcome (using frozen bloodworm and algae wafers) they feed greedily.

Furniture

Less reliant on plants than other Otocinclus species, nevertheless, tall leaved plants like Vallisneria provide habitat and shade for these species that also appreciate vertical wood surfaces but generally move around the aquarium without preference. Gravel or sand may be used.

Compatibility

A highly social, diurnal and hardy species. Slightly aggressive (more akin to slightly larger loricariids); they defend food albiet half-heartedly, and dominate Corydoras at feeding time but not to the other species detriment.

Also when kept with Corydoras paleatus, the Corys appear fooled by the oto mimics, and often follow them around, gulp air at the same time the otos do, and even male corys display to otos. The otos on the other hand seem aware which fish are conspecifics, as they're noticeably more aggressive towards the corys than to each other. Perhaps the bright white opercular diverticulum serves as a recognition signal for the otos? They have a curious behaviour that they nibble at each other and corys at the base of the dorsal fin, something which is apparently very unpleasant for the receiving fish - it looks like aggressive/dominance behaviour.

Suggested Tankmates

Keep in groups (preferably at least six) with any small to mid-sized community fish.

Breeding

It is reported that smaller male fish 'dance' in front of larger fish, 'nudge' the larger fish in the region of the cloaca, and also follow them around very closely. Actual reproduction is unreported.

Further Information

References

Proc. Am. Philos. Soc.v. 33 - pp97 - Pl. 8 [7] (figs. 13, 13a-b)

Registered Keepers

(1) irshprncsk, (2) alderfish (k: 6), (3) DrunkenPanda (k: 8), (4) SHEAG35 (k: 4).

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Add this species to your My Cats species list

Add this species to your "my cats" page.

Breeding Reports

None.

More Resources

- CotM

2009

May

- Search Planet Catfish for more on Otocinclus flexilis
Link

- BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts)
Look up AquaticRepublic.com

- Look up Otocinclus flexilis on AquaticRepublic.com
Look up Fishbase

- Look up Otocinclus flexilis on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search.
Link

- URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)

Hits

26199 hits.

Last Update

2006 Nov 08 01:12 (species record created: 2004 Aug 21 00:00)

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