Hypostomus basilisko ?

[kiwidu21]

Hello,

I have just acquired this catfish under the term "pleco" (term which includes loricaridae in France). I therefore come to you to identify the species as well as the sex. It looks a lot like H. basilisko:
-bicolor
-Brown eyes
- slightly red fins
-about 12 cm (he is between 10 and 15 years old)

What do you think ?

For age, how many more years can he have left?
I saw that there was no reproduction on the PC sheet but can it still be tried (if its age allows it, I don't want to exhaust it)?

Thanks.

[Acanthicus]

Hi,

indeed, this is H.basilisko. Normally, at that size they are about two years old, a typical size they have when imported. What makes you think it is between 10 and 15, did it come back from another customer before? They get old, but it is always hard to tell the maximum age, 20 at least, 30 maybe.

They have been bred in Germany, and there is an article about it in the BSSW-Report from 2018: www.ig-bssw.org/ig-bssw-report-jahrgaen ... 8/?lang=en

They are not really difficult to breed, it is more the lack of people trying that we don't hear about it more often.

cheers
Daniel

[kiwidu21]

I got it from an individual who didn't seem to know anything about it (I paid $15 for it when it's worth at least $50 in France). He told me he had it for at least 10 years, maybe more.
He kept it in a 60l (13 gallons) and then in a 160l (35 gallons).
I didn't ask about the diet but not sure he was fed a balanced diet. He had no wood available either.

I put it in my 260l (58 gallons) while waiting to put it in a bigger one.

With the confirmation of the species, I will be able to look for congeners and why not try to reproduce. I can't find much for the sexing of Hypostomus, do you have a sheet or photos of male / female?
The ones I find on the market are the same size as him, are they sexable at this age?

[naturalart]

From the photos, looks like a male.

[kiwidu21]

Thanks