Another small brown stiped pleco (chocolate zebra)

[sschind]

I just got these from my wholesaler. They were on the list as "chocolate zebra plecos" and that was all he could tell me. From looking I figured it could be any one of about a dozen that look very similar including these L002, L038, L049, L074, L129, L169, L209, L211

My best guess is the L129

If it helps the Wholesale price was about 8 bucks





Thanks for any ideas.

[MatsP]

Very hard to say. Are they actually as white as that? How large are they?

I'm tempted to say "young

Hypancistrus lunaorum

" - L199. They had some at Pier Aquatics recently that looked pretty similar to this.

Of course, if your wholesaler could tell you, and you could tell us, the country (and even better, river) that they came from, it would help a lot.

--
Mats

[nvcichlids]

I didn't know that L199's were spotted Mats, I am guessing the clog is just off on your post?

[drpleco]

I have a group of l129 that came in black and white like that, from Colombia, and eventually turned yellow. They maintained a really nice contrast and look really nice even as fullgrown adults. Strangely, the fry are more whitish, too.

[Suckermouth]

Mats meant to say

Hypancistrus furunculus

.

I dunno. The characteristic E found in zebra and furunculus isn't quite as clear in these guys. I'd guess either

Hypancistrus debilittera

or L340. I think it'd be the latter because of the head shape, but I'll let someone else better with that determine.


[mod edit: Jools: Fixed incorrect tag (debilittera)]

[MatsP]

Milton is right. Darn those new Hypancistrus, I can't remember which is which...

--
Mats

[nvcichlids]

i knew what you were talking about, just thought the clog picture looked wrong.

[sschind]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm sorry , that is all the info I have, My wholesaler cut off my inquiry of a locality before I could even ask it. I think he knows me to well as I have asked similar questions in the past on other fish. I do know they get a lot of stuff from Columbia but who really knows where it originates from. As far as the color yeah the stripes are pretty much that white. Yesterday when I took the pics they were stressed from being in he bag but this morning they look pretty much the same.

I really appreciate all the suggestions. I know it can be a bit frustrating answering all these "what is this fish" questions. In a way it really irritates me that they can import things like this without knowing what it is for sure. I know that there are violations of the Lacy act (at least as I understand it) as these fish are being shipped across state lines without accurate identification data provided. With all the laws being pushed across the nation to ban exotics I would think something like this would simply play into the hands of those pushing for the bans. I also know that I just contributed to the problem by buying the fish. It just seems strange to me that anyone who sells a fish would not want to know exactly what it is. I know that sort of stuff take time and time is money but one thing I take pride in is identifying all the animals I sell as accurately as possible. That's why I am here.

[MatsP]

I know it's easy for me to say this, and perhaps not so easy at your end - but it sounds like you need y'self a new wholesaler. If it's exported from Colombia, then it's MOST LIKELY fish that is caught in Colombia. Unfortunately, that's not a huge reduction in possibilities.

I still think they could be L199 - but it's just one of several possibilities, and without an accurate capture locality, it's very hard to say for sure.

--
Mats

[nvcichlids]

I asked the guys at the store these were purchased, and they stated that they purchased "L129" now if that is really what they are (which I believe they are) that would be left to DNA testing.. LOL

[Suckermouth]

Just recently someone on this forum ordered L129's and got L340's instead. Even if the store orders a fish under a name, you're assuming the wholesaler is right about the identification. For example, my LFS had ordered vampires and got H. contradens! Assuming a fish is as the store bought it as is not always the best assumption. That's not to say these aren't L129, but a general statement about fish not always being what they're ordered as.

[Janne]

They are either L129 or L340, the pictures is not good enough to determine which of them... a guess would be L129 but for a very sure answer new pics is needed showin a good sideview and one pic showing the headprofile from above.'

Janne

[drpleco]

Here are my fish (h. Sp. Debilittera) that looked just like yours on import. The ones with the broad heads are the males and pointed heads are the females. Unstressed they have yellow stripes but their stress colors can be yellow or white. The fry are variable too.

[bronzefry]

The last photo looks like a number of different species.
Amanda

[drpleco]

There are baby h. Contradens in the breeder box, too. Unless you were referring to the last picture ofthe adults, then you're seeing how the adult males differ from the females in appearance. The larger female with the wider bands didn't come with these fish and might be a different strain, but the others are all the same spp. from the same import batch and looked identical when I got them.