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We recently added two “clown” plecos to our tank. They look to be two different species. The one with the more patterned snout is ~50mm total length while the more cleanly striped one is about ~40mm total length. Are either of these actually Panaqolus maccus?

aliceinwl wrote: 02 Oct 2022, 21:47We recently added two “clown” plecos to our tank. They look to be two different species. The one with the more patterned snout is ~50mm total length while the more cleanly striped one is about ~40mm total length. Are either of these actually Panaqolus maccus?

Hi aliceinwl. Welcome to PlanetCatfish!

I think that both of your fish are clown plecos. At those sizes, I wouldn't say for sure that they are vs. . It's my understanding that L448 is more commonly imported, but both are called clown plecos.

I've raised and bred clown plecos before. The juveniles have a good deal of variability in their striping patterns, so I wouldn't worry about these being different species until you grow them out. Here's a link to a post with video and pics of my babies at about the sizes of your fish (my sizes are listed without the tail): viewtopic.php?p=293871#p293871

I suppose there's a slight chance your more striped fish is something else, but I think the odds are pretty low right now. If it continues to look like this as it grows, then I'd consider some of the Peckoltia that are similar to .

Enjoy them!
Cheers, Eric

Thanks! I was wondering about the larger one being L448 and the stripier guy being P. maccus.

I think Eric is spot on with L448 for the first one. These are a by catch in some regions. The second might be an L104 P. Maccus but a clearer picture would help.
viewtopic.php?t=49170

Probably not much of an improvement but I cropped these a bit.

It still looks like Panaqolus to me. But regarding P. maccus vs. L448, it's not about photo quality as much as it is age. Let them grow to see how their color patterns develop, particularly on the face.

Cheers, Eric

And, there is a very small chance it might be but it could be the eye size on the pictured fish is just a bit too small. I'd go with Eric's post.

Jools

Well as long as we didn’t wind up with anything that will get huge and eat all the plants, we’ll be happy. Here’s a dorsal shot of the striped pleco. Based on proportions I didn’t really consider options outside of Panaqolus.