# ID on a pleco/catfish



## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

I bought a weird looking fish today that was labeled as a butterfly pleco, which after looking up online, it definitely is not. I talked to the guy at the store and he said that it is not a pleco at all, but rather a kind of catfish. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

#2


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## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

#3


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

It is a pleco of some sort I saw them at my lfs today I am not sure what kind they werent posted


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

a butterfly algae eaters...there neat but they usually die rather fast...unsure why..there usually kept with goldfish or in community tanks


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

As far as I know, this is not a catfish, but a loach (different family...)


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Judazz is correct, they are loaches and not catfish.

their are a couple of varietys of fish with this body shape, some of which are coldwater and can be kept with goldfish, and some which are tropical, I have owned a _Gastromyzon ctenocephalus_ - Spiney-Headed Hillstream Loach (I think), which lived for a couple of years and was great, it would sit on a rock next to a twig catfish.

anyway enough about my past fish and on to scientific names

















_Beaufortia leveretti_ - Leverett's hillstream loach

here is a handy Beaufortia leveretti link


















_Gastromyzon ctenocephalus_ - Spiney-Headed Hillstream Loach

heres a handy link with Gastromyzon ctenocephalus pics
heres a handy Gastromyzon ctenocephalus link

_Crossostoma tinkhami_ - Fukien hillstream loach
I cant find a pic for this one - sorry









_Gastromyzon punctulatus_ - spotted hillstream loach

heres a handy link with pics

well their are a few more like this, I cant see the pattern on your pics well enough to decide which one it is, but you have the real fish to look at.

I hope this helps


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

very nice pics innes..once again you have come through with nice pic(especially the last one) ...and yes at the fish store i worked at they sold them as

butterfly loaches...


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

It actually is a chinaese suckerfish I think


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

pcrose - that is one of the coldwater species


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

oh my bad


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

not bad - you are right, they do look like this


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

good


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

pcrose said:


> It actually is a chinaese suckerfish I think












a chinese algae eat look like this..


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Not trying to be an ass Raf, but that fish looks more like an Otocinclus catfish to me...


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

no Judazzz, it is a chinese algea eater an Otocinclus is darker and smaller, I'll find a pic, and it is also not what pcrose was describing.

pcrose is describing a fish that looks like the first pic I posted (it might even be that fish) and is sometimes kept in goldfish tanks


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

I guess you're right... My bad









But I can swear it looked like an Otocinclus last night, after 7 or so beers and some whacky weed...


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## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

I've seen the fish rday bought in a few lfs listed as a "Stingray Pleco"


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

Judazzz said:


> I guess you're right... My bad
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 ahaha...sure blame the poor innocent whacky weed....
















yeah as innes stated the Otocinclus catfish is smaller and has a darker color to it....


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

thePACK said:


> Judazzz said:
> 
> 
> > I guess you're right... My bad
> ...


 I know how Oto's look like (I have used them as feeders a while back [not intentionally, though])....
Must have been a case of severe blurred vision...


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Innes said:


> no Judazzz, it is a chinese algea eater an Otocinclus is darker and smaller, I'll find a pic


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