PlanetCatfish.com

I just perchased a few Pl*cos from my LFS.
They were sold to me as Chinese Butterfly Pl*co

They are very dark brown with a very large number of very small light brown spots but like all Pl*cos it does change colors with enviroment and mood. They are an extremely flat animal. All of th fins are rounded. The animal appears to use the entire body and fins to attach to the glass. I was wondering what is the Genus and Species of this animal???

Thanks In Advance!

I will get a surface pic soon but here is a pic of the underside...



PsDemasoni

They are actually hillstream loaches of the family Balitoridae.
See this thread.

Silurus wrote:They are actually hillstream loaches of the family Balitoridae.
See this thread.

Thanks Silurus. It is a pretty cool animal anyway. I thought it might be some kind of a ray. Odd thing though, what gives an LFS owner the reason to miss label? Is it because Chinese Butterfly Pleco sounds better for a sale since loach sounds like roach? I know they have knowledge and the employees know what is what 99% of the time.

Hmmmm, still a neat animal though. They have a place in my 30 gallon tank.

BTW, sorry about the extra posts in other areas , I could not find a delete post button or a link to delete the post. Thanks!

PsDemasoni

what gives an LFS owner the reason to miss label?

They come from the importer with that name (and it seems that they have been imported under that name for some time now). It sure sounds more attractive than "hillstream loach".

And because of the pecunia of couse; muchas dineros, peso etc etc

"pleco" is a word that immedeately attaches a pricetag to a fish, just like an "L" and a number....

It's a trial for us, non-pleco-but-very-much-catfish-enthousiasts; Pleco's get imported by the millions (but only members of the Ancistrinae, almost no others), because they sell; it seems everyone wants a fancy Pleco (or L number) in with their fish; be it a community-tank, Riftlake tank etc.

other catfishes (with the exception of Corydoras species, and fry of unkeepable species like Pangasius, Clarias, and the odd Red Tail) are a bit harder to get. Ranging from moderately searching is required (such as Riftlake cats, Pseudomystus and bigger Callichthydae to name a few) to very rare in the trade (such as weird Dorads- Hassar for example, weird Africans -such as Chiloglanis, and oddball Asians; like Chaca chaca or Hara hara).

If I want a truly stunning Pseudacanthicus leopardus or a baby Acanthicus adonis or a Bluegreen Chaetostoma spp, the shop next door is the closest LFS where they are!

Strictly commercial