Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Close-up of mouth
Ventral view
Juvenile
Ventral view

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus** Weber, 1991
Common Name(s)	L001, L022
Type Locality	Rio Araguaya, affluent of Tocantins, Amazon system, Arunanã, Goiás, Brazil
Pronunciation	terry gop LICK thees
Etymology	Greek, pterygion, diminutive of pteryx = wing, fin + Greek, hoplon = weapon + Greek, ichthys = fish. Named to honour Mr. Jose Lima.
Species Information
Size	305mm (12") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Pterygoplichthys can be identified by the number of rays in the dorsal fin. More than 10 indicates that it's a Pterygoplichthys. Most other plecos have 8 or fewer rays (in particular the larger Hypostomus species that are most likely to be confused with Pterygoplichthys). L001 is the same as L022.
Sexing	Comparison of the genital papilla in mature fish shows the differences in the sexes to the trained eye. In males this is a small yet thick stump which noticeably protrudes from the fish's undercarriage. In females it is less obvious and is recessed or lies flat with the body.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Tocantins River basin. Amazon, Lower Amazon, Tocantins (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
Temperature	24.0-29.0°C or 75.2-84.2°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Lettuce, Peas, Frozen Spinach and any prepared food that reaches the bottom. Larger fish enjoy prawns or pieces of freshwater trout. Algae (especially soft brown) will be eaten immediately.
Furniture	An appropriately sized shady retreat is all this fish requires. Will not eat plants, but any individual larger then 100mm or so may inadvertently pull up plants that are not entirely established. Larger fish require heavy filtration, not because they are fussy about water quality, but because of the high volumes of waste they produce.
Compatibility	Larger individuals are territorial to conspecifics however not predatory and able to look after itself with all but the most violent tankmates. Not a good pleco to keep with other similarly sized plecos as the P. joselimaianus would usually win any competition for food.
Suggested Tankmates	Suitable with almost any fish, except other plecos due to the conspecific aggression of larger individuals and food competition.
Breeding	Although commercially farmed, spawning in a home aquarium would be very difficult to achieve as a large wall of mud (I.E. a river bank) is tunnelled into and used for the incubation / hatching process. Large tunnels and fish would be required in a super-size aquarium.
Further Information
References	Rev. Suisse Zool. v. 98 (no. 3) 640
Registered Keepers	(1) Persephone, (2) Kristofer, (3) arapaima, (4) Chrysichthys, (5) lookyloo, (6) Kimmy73b, (7) Sarajute, (8) mikelouth, (9) pureplecs (k: 2), (10) Topaztas, (11) VirgoWolf, (12) crazyplec, (13) hatecrew24/7, who also notes: " got 1 of these, 25 cm", (14) Freakdaddy (k: 4), (15) Cooky_luvs, (16) synoguy, (17) Osiris, (18) einstein-a-go-go, (19) Plank, (20) yogi69, who also notes: "about 6" ", (21) Benjamin, (22) unkaface, (23) H-TRAIN, (24) Landlubber, (25) kerryteatsjr, (26) Snowy, (27) Colin Keightley, (28) Plecofanatic1989 (k: 2), (29) hope4peace, (30) joepleco, (31) magnar30, (32) teddyman5, (33) Gog, (34) jordant, (35) haffiducki, (36) Troender, (37) NHL, (38) Loracidlover, (39) Trollboy, (40) Plunt, (41) PatchesThePirate, (42) Numbers, (43) drgold, (44) Violence, (45) River Dog, (46) HeadHunter, (47) djwalker124, (48) uyaffe, (49) bob, who also notes: "Very slow growing for me. About 6 inches at this time. I think he has trouble getting enough to eat - both the Syno. eupterous and a Vieja out compete. He looks healthy enough.", (50) munki, (51) Khalid (p: 2), (52) Rainbow Brite, (53) Royeight (p: 4), (54) chralis, (55) fishmosy, (56) novice, (57) Schmike, (58) HX67, (59) Breezer, (60) mark woodhouse, (61) Tracey, (62) Juha, (63) johnk1982, (64) Glauko, (65) nyamaoan (k: 4), (66) KillerThePlecostomus (p: 2), who also notes: "Killer is a wonderful fish. I could have not asked for a better friend! His favorite foods are Spinach, Cucumbers, and Algae Wafers. he's always watching me. He likes it when i film him with my video camera and when I clean his home.", (67) jessey, (68) Syokoy (p: 2), (69) linz_d87, (70) laineyg6, (71) Daniel Machado, (72) ayrtoninst (k: 5), (73) GER1023, (74) pickles4601, (75) Back, (76) warrior_wolf73, (77) smitty (p: 2, k: 2), who also notes: "Originally kept in 180gal tank. Moved to 150gal tank on 9/14/2010. Had to move back to 180gal due to very aggressive mating pair of Dovi's. Pleco became very inactive the week of 7/8/2011. Found dead the morning of 7/22/2011.", "Length on 2/1/2008 was 1 1/2". Measured on 9/03/2010 at 13 1/2". In just over 2.5yrs he has grown 12 1/4".", (78) kungfuteacher, (79) Kenny Tay, (80) barry555 (p: 2), (81) Buc_Nasty, (82) Jatze, (83) natteheks, (84) mrfishydude, (85) plecorocks, (86) fat cat, (87) uknavynigel, (88) N2Biomes, (89) Mezel, (90) Hellcatt (k: 2), (91) 1234d (p: 2), (92) tagamasid1023, who also notes: "L001 is a very majestic and beautiful specie. I love its chocolate-military pattern and its fan-like dorsal fin. My L001 is guilty of gluttony and is never ashed of it! No wonder this one doubled its size in the span of two months only! I'll probably need to transfer this one into my Oscar tank pretty soon.", (93) jpac716, (94) AquariumLover04, (95) Hapahound1971, (96) milosz, (97) kamlam (p: 2), (98) Alisana, (99) nedara, (100) Ottofan2003, (101) crusnik, (102) oneoddfish. 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 2010 June - Search Planet Catfish for more on Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	77822 hits.
Last Update	2009 Jul 03 12:32 (species record created: 2001 Apr 28 00:00)

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