Peckoltia sp. “L377”

Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Loricarioidei
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Genus: Peckoltia
Species: not described yet

Peckoltia sp. "L377" is a small pleco, which grows up to only 15 cm in body length. Its ground coloration can vary between white, yellow, beige and orange. On top of that it shows a darker striped / worm-lined pattern. Especially the fins are more contrasty orange-black striped. Males develop odontode growth from behind the gills till the tail. Females stay rather smooth.

This species is a peaceful fish which shows no aggression towards its own kind and other fish. It is a rather shy pleco, which prefers to hide in caves over the day and only comes out to eat. Peckoltia sp. "L377" is therefore most active during night.

This species comes from Brazil and is found in the Rio caete. Its habitat consists of not to fast streaming, clear water with a temperature around 25 - 29° C.

Peckoltia sp. "377" is omnivorous and therefore not picky. In nature its diet consists presumable mostly of insect larvae and crustaceans but also plant material, like algae.

In captivity this Peckoltia can be fed with all kind of industrial but also natural fish food. From frosted artemia, mosquito larvae, krill etc. to dry food like granules, pellets and sinking flakes, everything is eaten good. In our tanks they prefer frosted mossels and Snail granulate and Krill granulate. Additionally they get Spirulina tabs and sweet potato or zucchini.

An aquarium for "L377" doesn't have to be to big. In an aquarium with 100 - 120 cm length, a group of 5 - 6 pieces can be kept successfully. The substrate can range from sand to pebbles. It should be taken care, that there are more hiding spots than animals in the aquarium. Since this species doesn't tend to be aggressive, its not so important to structure the aquarium a lot. Some pieces of driftwood, stones and caves do their job well. A strong current is not necessary, but good filtration is recommendable. A dimmed light, helps to see the fish more often over the day, outside of their hiding spots.

The water temperature should be around 25 - 29 °C and the pH can range from 6 - 7,5. Peckoltia are in general robust plecos, which get along with a wide range of water parameters. For breeding lower pH and higher temperatures are needed.

Weekly waterchange of 50% are necessary to keep the water clean and the fish healthy. Wether they eat plants or not, is not known by us, since they are kept in hardscape tanks only at us.

This pleco is a good species for community tanks, since it doesn't bother other fish or is a to slow or fast eater, which gets along with a wide range of water parameters.

Depending on being in breeding mood or not sexing this species is mostly not so difficult.

From the side we can see that the female has a rounder belly and sits therefore higher than the male.

The male seems to have a little less convex head shape from the side, than the female.

The odontodes on the gills are with both sexes quite strong pronounced.
The odontodes on the pectoral fins though, are longer and more spikey with the male.

The most outstanding sexing trait is with most Peckoltia spp. the "hairy" tail of the males. Odontodes can reach from the shoulders till back to the tail fin, being longest and most numerous at the end of the body.

A pregnant female makes sexing from top also very easy. As you can see, the body shape of the female is really round in comparison to the males, which has its broadest body part around the shoulders. Also the hairy odontodes are good visible, reaching out of the body silhouette of the male.

From top, also the head of the male is longer than the females.

From underneath, females show a bigger, rounder papilla with several yellow dots around it.

Like almost every other pleco, also this species spawnes in caves or crevices, where they get fertilized by the male and then protected by it, till the fry hatch and eat up their yolk sacc.

The breeding worked so far sometimes in the hobby. It doesn't seem to be much different to breeding other Peckoltia species. They can be stimulated with cold water changes after a longer period of no water changes. Babies of this species show a black and white striped pattern, which is a good identification indicator for this L-number, since most Peckoltia babies are orange-black striped.

I have bred this species in 2024 and will soon write a breeding report about it. To be continued!