Chaetostoma brevilabiatum

Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Loricarioidei
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Genus: Chaetostoma
Species: Chaetostoma brevilabiatum, Dahl, 1942

Chaetostoma brevilabiatum is a huge species in its genus. Where as most species only get around 10 - 12 cm, C. brevilabiatum can reach a size of over 25 cm. In general it's a really robust built pleco which is really strong. For Chaetostoma typical, it has a big head in comparison to the body and rubber like, soft tissue on the border of the mouth. It has a huge mouth with small teeth and gill slits, which help this species to suck on to stones, to not get washed away by strong currents. This is especially notable, when trying to catch C. brevilabiatum and it doesn't let go of the substrate it is sitting on. It is not a spiky species which shows only minimal odontode growth on the pectoral fins and the gills.

Its overall body color is grey with hues of red-brown or olive green in it. When this fish is under stress, it tends to get blurry and darker. Especially relaxed males show a pretty contrast of a grey body coloration, with dark seems on the edges of the skin plates. From the middle of the body, till the tail there are 2 - 3 dark horizontal lines visible. In all fins (except the tail fin) they can show a light white to red dotted pattern. In general the fins shows more red or green color as the rest of the body. Only the upper tip of the caudal fin shows a white spot.

Males tend to be territorial and defend their caves against other males. Females are more visible on open spots. This species is friendly towards its own kind when it established territories.

The name "brevilabiatum" is Latin. "brevis" means short, "labiatum" means lips.

This species is found in Colombia. There, only in the Rio Volcán, Cimitarra and Magdalena River basins.

C. brevilabiatum inhabits fast streaming rivers with a lot of big rocks and pebbles in it. The overall body- and head shape indicates a live in a fast streaming biotope. Depending on, if it rained or not, the temperature of the water measures between 21 and 27 °C. Due to the fast current there is a lot of current in the water. This is something, that should be kept in mind, when keeping this species in an aquarium.
Other than most plecos, Chaetostoma are not able to breathe atmospheric oxygen, once the oxygen levels are low in the water.

If you take a closer look to the mouth of C. brevilabiatum, a lot of small teeth are visible. That is a typical mouth for herbivore plecos, which rasp algae from hard surfaces.

In captivity, this pleco should be fed mainly vegetarian. They take granules very good. Also Spirulina tabs, Spirulina soft granulate or Veggie sticks is taken by them. Vegetables like zucchini or sweet potatoes can be given to them additionally.

Since this species grows large, it should be given enough space to live in. Aquariums with 120 cm - 180 cm are suitable for them.

It is best to decorate the aquarium with bright gravel, stones and pebbles of different sizes. With stone slates, crevices to hide, can be built. It should be taken care, that stone constructions are stable, since this species is really strong and can toss over unstable stone piles. Males also accept ceramic pleco caves, which is normally unusual for this genus. They are active during the night and day and have resting phases in their hiding spots. They are not sensitive to bright light.

To keep this species healthy, a strong current and a lot of oxygen should be accessible in the aquarium. During most of the day, you can see them sitting in the streaming. Of course, it is also important that there is a good filter in the aquarium.

Weekly water changes with slightly colder water should be obligatory. This species doesn't like it really warm and gets more active in colder water with around 22 - 25 °C.

Since this species is a herbivore, it doesn't make much sense to put plants in the aquarium. They will mostly end up as expensive fish food.

C. brevilabiatum does best in a species only aquarium, since it has a uncommon demand of water parameters. 3 - 4 specimens in one aquarium mostly get along good.

On the first view Chaetostoma brevilabiatum seems to be really hard to sex. This is due to very minimal secondary sexual traits.

We can see a little difference in coloration, where as the female is more brown-reddish and the male more olive greenish.

This is better visible when the animals are not in stress colors and lose that dark, blurry coloration. If this is a sexing indicator, we can't say for sure.

If you look at them from the side, you can see, that the male has a bit of a higher head. The females head seems to be a bit flatter in shape.

The odontodes on the gills are with both sexes visible, and have almost no difference at all.

Also the odontodes on the hard ray of the pectorals is shown by female and male. Even though you could say, that the male has slightly longer ones. Also visible from that angle are the in general longer and more straight pectoral fins of the male.

From top, things seem to be a bit more easy. The biggest difference here is probably the length and the shape of the pectoral fins. The female shows them shorter and more curved.

The head seems to be also a good indicator for sexing. Where as the distance between the eyes seems to be bigger with the male, the female shows them more close together. Also the distance from eyes to the border of the snout is with males larger. You could say that males show just a bigger head, even tho both sexes show a really blocky head shape.

From underneath things also look different between male and female. What stays out, are the numerous black pigmented spots around the genital area of the male. Also the shape of the genital papilla is more pointy with males and rounder with females.

There is not much known about Chaetostoma brevilabiatum in the hobby. Breeding in captivity with this species has not been successful yet as far as we know.

We assume, like many other Chaetostoma also this species lays eggs on a smooth surface like a flat stone or in the aquarium against the glass. This genus rarely spawns in ceramic caves. Many Chaetostoma males develop bigger pelvic fins during breeding season. This may has to do with fertilization of eggs in fast currents. If C. brevilabiatum also develops longer and bigger fins is not known.

In general males take care of the egg batch till the youngsters hatch.