10cm Pleco ID

[AmazonTank]

Hope everybody's fish are fine.
I would really appreciate it if someone can positively ID these plecos they average 10cm in the group showing little shades of orange.

[AmazonTank]

Bottom view!

[panaque]

Definitely a Panaqolus species. Maybe Panaqolus sp(l458)? There are a number of species with a similar pattern though - have a look under the genus link.

[AmazonTank]

Thanks for your message!

[bekateen]

Hi Howie,

Looking at these photos more closely, there does seem to be some difference.

Of these 5 fish, the ones with straight lines on their faces look no different than the L397 I've seen. The one (or ones, I can't see clearly in the photos) is fish #5, which appears to have a complex scrolling pattern on the face. None of the L397 I've seen have that pattern. As far as I see in the photos, only Panaqolus changae and L206 have this facial pattern (Maybe others do to, but I don't know), although based on the rest of the body I think it's safe to exclude L206.

Look at any big old L397 and you see tightly packed, relatively straight lines on the face, terminating right behind the eyes (as here: https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/im ... ge_id=8796). Behind the eyes, the lines are still a little chaotic in angle, but are almost immediately transitioning to lines that are about equal in thickness and spacing to body bands.

Compare that to L271. The facial lines are very similar to those of L397 back to the eyes, but behind the eyes, the bands thicken, but not as much so as on L397. The pre-dorsal bands on L271 appear to be thinner and more densely packed (e.g., here: https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/im ... e_id=12709) than as seen on L397. I don't see this feature on your fish, so I would rule out L271.

[AmazonTank]

Thanks for your insight that was awesome

[AmazonTank]

Zoomed in head shots!

[panaque]

They’re gorgeous! I’m thinking that of the possibilities suggested, Panaqolus changae seems the best match and also most likely to turn up in the trade (apart from L397, but yours don’t look orange enough for that species).

[AmazonTank]

That sure looks like a possible match. I been checking the L002 looking like a possible match as well!

[panaque]

Is there any chance you could find out where these fish were collected (assuming they’re wild)? That would help with ID.
In any case, care requirements are the same: clean water and lots of wood! Be prepared for lots of filter-clogging saw dust poo. I use pre-filters or sponges over filter inlets in my Panaqolus tanks to keep filter maintenance manageable.

[Jools]

I considered Panaqolus changae too, but the head reticulations are very fine on that species and less so on those pictured. At the size of the pictured fish, they appear almost like a solid colour. Conversely, with L002 they stripes are straight and they are thicker - also L002 is not an orange/reddish fish.

Hope that helps, I am not 100% sure on the ID of all the fishes in the group. As @Panaque says, without more data, it's hard to ID them with more than ~75% certainty.

Jools

[Jools]

All my L397 have fairly uniform strips across the body and more light colour in the fins than bands. This is a good example from Instagram. The fins look right for L397, it's just the broken / wavy patterning that's putting me off.


Jools