ID time! :D -image heavy-

I recently lost my biggest BN, Tim, thanks to a nasty clash with my Red Tail Shark (needless to say he's gone now), and was thinking no more Plecs for a while.
Then I saw this cutie today, and my grandma bought 'im for me as a birthday present (sunday whoo, 17!)

Now, whilst he was being sold under L213, like my other two were, a previous ID thread determined them am L059. However, I'm asking for ID as the spots on this guy are HUGE compared to what they were on:
a. The other two when they were this small
b. All the other plecs in the shop tank.

More Pics:




As you can see, he does have an orange colouring to his spots on his fins, eyes and tail, like the L059.

Heres my remaining L059 when I first got him, at the same age as the new one:



As you can see, drastically smaller spots on this fellow.
It may also be worth noting that the new one has a much smaller, 'D' shaped mouth than my others.

Is it possible I may have some sort of crossbreed, or just a plec with much bigger spots than usual? Or do I have something other than an L059? Could I possibly have a true L213 for once!
Thanks in advance you lot

(Ps: Sorry for always making my ID posts so image heavy, I just reckon it probably makes it easier for you all )

Just stumbled across this:
http://www.swisstropicals.com/Ancistrus%20sp%20Snowflake.html

What do you think?

EDIT:
Scratch this, it only looks like the adults, not the juveniles

Leave it with me .
J

Could be a L107 / L184
Brilliant bristlenose pleco

Good one Spreebok, I bet this ones going to screw with some heads.
Definately not L213 as L213 does not sport any orange colouring.
Neither does L107/L184 - brilliant Ancistrus (sorry Jagtazman)
Now the fish you described as "snow flake" bristly is often confused with L059(Hoplogenys) but is a "species" fish all of it's own and is not L059 but has no Lnumber assigned.
Your fish could well be the "snow flake" as the larger spots seem to fit the bill, the only other black Ancistrus
that does carry a little bit of orange that I could find in the Aqualog is the LDA45/ L349-"slender bristlenose" and he seems to have the larger spots like yours with the orange in the right places.
But most of the images I've seen for the LDA45 seem to loose the spots 2 thirds down the way of the body
Hmmm , conundrum
J

Wow, thats some digging you did there!
I'm sorry to twist your brains so badly haha!
I'm happy to accept it maybe be a cross or a mutation, but if he is a specific breed I'd love to know

I don't think you have a cross or mutation , maybe a little more time will tell better what your fish is.
I actually tend to lean toward your idea of the "snow flake" because all the info you find usually refers to L059, but the
spot pattern is definatly different.
J

Great digging J...this is a tuffy...i will do some digging myself on this...

but either way spree this BN is stunning...........

Yup a tough one, the reason I thought it may be a L107 / L184 is because of the large spots but the red tinge did make me think and the spots are way too large for a L059

Really nice specimen I might add, if you lived closer to me I'd be in the LFS myself and purchasing a group of these

Quote :

I don't think you have a cross or mutation , maybe a little more time will tell better what your fish is.
I actually tend to lean toward your idea of the "snow flake" because all the info you find usually refers to L059, but the
spot pattern is definatly different.

Hehee, I might have to snap up a few fellows for this guy if theres any, wouldn't want them to die out ;D
Or girl, what do you think?

Quote :

but either way spree this BN is stunning...........

Eee, thanks! I wasn't going to buy any fish, but I saw him and was like, I WANT

Quote :

Yup a tough one, the reason I thought it may be a L107 / L184 is because of the large spots but the red tinge did make me think and the spots are way too large for a L059

Really nice specimen I might add, if you lived closer to me I'd be in the LFS myself and purchasing a group of these

Brain hemorrhage!
I'm thinking of ganerering at least another if I can!

well im going for a young L120 defo not a L213 ive bred them its nice though what ever it is.

deano wrote:

well im going for a young L120 defo not a L213 ive bred them its nice though what ever it is.

Yeah I can see a L120 also

I went back today and bought two more, but I reckon that guy was the only one in there, as the others look more like the previous one's I'd bought. Musta been a stray one lol! Oh well, the more the merrier!

So you guys reckon he's an L120? Anyone got any pics about? Google fails
Also, I paid £5.95 for the guy, good deal in that case?

Edit:
Lol forget that I fail, they do look more like the newest one! Pics to follow!

well 5.95 is a right bargain...

It looks like an L327 the spots are exactly the same but the orange always leads it back to Ancistrus hoplogenys...

If the spots wernt so big i would say Ancistrus hoplogenys, maybe they are?? and the spots are more prominant???

Hoorah! Good deal!

Pics of the new ones! They do look a lot more like the newest one, they just didn't look so much in the shop!
I'm not quite sure which picture is of which, so I'll number the pics and you can tell me what you think lol xD

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


Whats your opinions then guys?
Also genders, one has a pointiers mouth than the other, potential male and female? Both have brisltes, one only have two in the middle and one on each side, the other has a few more?

Hmm, well, now I'm looking at them more, they seem to be in the middle of the two.
The first definatly has the biggest, most even spots.

First up , I reckon you got real lucky as I suspect there is a pair of male and female from the foto's.
Secondly, I think I reject the idea of your fish being L120 or L327 as neither of these fish carry any orange around the
eye, if you look at your fish you can notice 4 orange spots on the eye, these other 2 have none of that and have a plain black eye- I'm still going with either L059( with larger spots (for some reason) or the "snowflake sp."( it's just a pity there is not a lot of material to reference)
Thirdly, how come you haven't entered the POTM? you usually come out with some with some great pix and this bunch
could do real well in the comp.
J

Yaay! I was thinking of getting a small 23ltr to grow these three out in, with the addition of my betta, just to keep em safe! Breeding!
I dunno, I fail at ID'ing, you guys are my saviors and experts!

And I netered now, just for you

sorry to throw a HUGE spanner in the works guy's but im sure they are Ancistrus sp. Rio Ucayali Juvi's.....

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=638

They have the same eye markings, the same orange colouration and the same sized white spots......

compare spree's pics to planet catfish's Rio's.....

Like im said im sorry to add to confusion but ive dug deep into this and rio ucayali is the only match i can find...

Good call Curby I think you may be right, wonder if my L059 is actually one of these they are very similar, only time will tell

I knew these guys were Rio's, I'm stupid and though l059 and Rio's where the same thing lol fail on my behalf.
The y have a noticably higher amount of spots then my other Rio, but thats probably just nature :P

I think it is the "Rio Delta" river system that a lot of Ancistrus species come from:
Ancistrus triradiatus: comes from the Rio Meta drainage in Venzuela
A. Rio Paraguay: from the part of the river that is in Paraguay.
A. Rio Ucayali: from where ever this part of the river runs through. Just read "Peru"
A. Rio Branco: and so on and so on.

I've always been lead to believe that A.Rio Ucayali was tagged as the "orange spot B/N" in OZ and this is why I didn't look at it trying to get your I.D.
Now I know I'm wrong about the A. Rio Ucayali being the orange spot as it doesn't carry the orange spots all the way through the body. You learn something new every day.

I reckon you have nailed it Curby being A. Rio Ucayali.

J

yep curby looks as though hes got this one my guess was of the top of my head though i need to get mi books back

well there's a first time for everything...lol....

I also thought that i had 3 L182's but now im thinking i have a male and female L182 and one Rio...(female) ive had her a year now and she as stayed the same size about 6 inch....and the male shows no interest in her.....i think its time to move her on.....