Bristles on L144 have shrunk.

[krazyGeoff]

I noticed this interesting situation last night, and thought I should post it to see if this has been heard of before.
The specimen in question is an

Ancistrus sp(L144)

. This fellow is my favourite L144 , as he is the one that started my addiction towards the smaller plecos, and could be to blame for the 17 or so tanks that now crowd my garage / fish room (after insulation). In fact this guy is the subject of my Avatar (The picture that accompanies my username), and this picture was taken in November '07.
This guy is about 3.5 years old, and as far as I can tell is in perfect health. We shall call him Mr One.
As you can see from the avatar, his bristles, whilst not the bushiest that I have ever seen, are bigger than his eye. At this time there were two Mrs One's in the tank with him , and he produced many young he was about 2 years old then.
For the past year there has been only one Mrs One, and they have not been breeding, which is what I wanted, as it was time for this guy to retire.
Last night, while he was munching on a zucchini, I noticed that his bristles had shrunk Now his biggest bristle is only as big as his eye.

I have had much bigger and older L144 (up to 15 CM TL), and he had a massive bushy nose, so I had thought that the bristles keep growing as the fish get older.
I am wondering if because there is only one Mrs One, and they are not really sexually active , if it is possible that the bristles can shrink because they are no longer being used to attract a mate?
Or is there some bristle shrinking affliction that I am unaware of?
Any comments, similar observations would be appreciated.

Thanks

Geoff

[fischkringli]

if it is possible that the bristles can shrink because they are no longer being used to attract a mate?

Yes, it could be possible. The bristles are for atracting females. The brisles look like larves nad the female thinks then. He has got many babies, he is a god father for my eggs and larves. So females choose the male with the longest and biggest bristles.
I got one female of Ancistrus cf. hologynensis and 3 males. One is 15 cm with a bristle forest and the others are 5 and3 cm and have only a 3-days beard. The giant is the only male, who is sexual active(who wonders).

[krazyGeoff]

Thanks for that information. I'll stop being concerned, and just keep observing him to see if he is unwell in any other way.

Cheers
Geoff

[fischkringli]

There are lots of sozial thigs in the Ancistrus family. For example they sometimes help orphan eggs of an Ancistrus male, that died. These things interest me a lot.