Pseudacanthicus sp. “L97”

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

Pseudacanthicus sp. "L97" is with its maximum size of around 25 cm, one of the smaller species of its genus. It reaches sexual maturity rather fast and is able to breed with a size around 15 - 18 cm. The general figure of this fish is rather bulky, especially when the animal is already older. The whole body is covered with sharp spikes, which are the longest on the pectorals, the border of the head and on the back-end of the tail.  Even though this species doesn't grow large, it's quite strong and can bite hard.

Its coloration is overall dark black with white, yellow to pinkish spots all over the body. The pattern can be really individual and especially younger specimens show larger dots than adult ones. The dots can also be connected and create short worm lines.

Because of this coloration and pattern this pleco is commonly known of "King Of Galaxy Pleco" or "King Galaxy", which refers to the bright stars in the universe. It happens often that people confuse this Pseudacanthicus with Leporacanthicus galaxias/cf. galaxias (L7, L29, L240 / L241), which has a species name similar to the common name of "L97".

This fish lives in Brazil. It can be found in the Rio Tapajos and the Rio Curua Una.

There it prefers warm and high oxygenated water with medium to fast streaming current. This fish is a good and fast swimmer and is not only be seen on substrate. It prefers to hide in crevices of driftwood and rocks though. The water measures in its habitat a temperature around 26 - 30 °C. Other than that, this fish likes clean, soft and slightly acidic water.

Pseudacanthicus sp. "L97" is a carnivore and in nature he eats mostly crustaceans and insect larvae. Also dead fish are a welcomed food for this pleco.

The mouth of this species shows less teeth but rather pointy and big ones, which is a clear indicator of a carnivore pleco.

In captivity all protein rich industrial and frozen foods are good to feed. It should only be taken care that the diet doesn't consist of only one food sort. "L97" gets fat quite quickly and should therefore not be overfed. We could observe that from time to time this species also scratches on wood and algae. So additional feeding with greens, like vegetables or tabs can be applied.

We feed our "L97"mostly Mussel soft granulaat, Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Garlic and Snail soft granulate, and sometimes Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Green in between.
For getting the fish in breeding mode we also feed them Insect soft granulate because of the high protein level in this food.

Finally a Pseudacanthicus for smaller tanks! A pair or a small group can be kept allready in tans of 120 cm length. It should only be taken care, that the animals harmonize, since they can show a territorial behaviour with heavy fights, which can cause damages on the skin, fins and eyes.

Once the hierarchy is fought out, "L97"s are easy to keep fish, with not much needs in space. Enough hiding spots in form of pleco caves, stones and driftwood should always be added into their tank. Substrate is not always necessary but we prefer not to fine quarz sand, since it gives a nice contrast to the dark animals. Sadly this is a species often hidden in its hiding spots.

Carnivores produce a lot of waste in the water, which is why there should be a good filtration added into the tank. Weekly waterchanges of 50% are welcomed by the plecos. To reach the preferred temperature of 26 - 30 °C an internal heater can be used. Just take care to install it in a way, the plecos can't destroy it. A streaming pump for good current and a bubble stone help for good oxygenation in the tank. Light is not necessary and should only be chosen dimmed, to see the animals more often over the day, outside of their hiding spots. Water can be softened with the help of nature products like catappa leaves, alder cones, peat or by using osmosis water.

Mostly groups of only one sex are the calmest without fights. Groups of males show fights only in the beginnng, till the animals know who the strongest is. Once there is a female added to a group of males, constant fighting for the right to the female is a daily thing. To avoid to big bruises, males should be seperated or more hiding spots should be added. To other plecos "L97" is mostly harmless and good integrateable in community tanks. This species just prefers to dig a lot in the substrate, which is why they are not suitable for tanks with filigree plants.

Smaller Pseudacanthicus species can make sexing sometimes really difficult and we have to admit that we also had our problems in the past with that. But once you really take a closer look to the animals most differences between male and female are good to spot if you know where to look at.

We see two small specimens with around 15 cm. From the side the male looks a bit more robust built, over the course of aging especially "L97" males can get really bulky.

From the side the heads show a very different shape. The male shows a broader snout where as the female has a more pointy head, looking almost like the head of a Leporacanthicus.

If we take a closer look the the sides of the mouth/snout we can see a lot of hard spikes on the male. The female shows them also but by far not so thick and numerous.

Same goes for the odontodes on the gills. Males show them longer and thicker.

The odontodes on the pectorals can be sometimes tricky, since females show them also often. Also here the male tends to be more spiky and the hard rays of the pectorals are in general just more massive.
 

Since "L97" is also a member of the "Cactus Plecos" spikes can be found all over the body, which can cause quite some damages when gripped with the bare hands. Males show here also longer and thicker ones, especially in the tail region.

From top sexing is the easiest, when females are full with eggs or just in general good fed. In our case the female is quite slim, which makes sexing from top a bit more difficult. Males can get rather fat even behind the shoulder area, which is not a common thing for plecos in general. What is good visible is the thicker end of the tail of the male. That seems to be getting thinner towards the tail fin with the female. From that angle also the spikes of the male stand out more of the silhouette than the females.

When taking a closer look to the head from top, the male shows a rounder and broader snout than the female. The head of the female is in general smaller than the males.

From underneath also this L-number makes it easy for us again. Here counts, that males have a smaller, more pointy papilla than the females. Sometimes the papilla looks quite similar with both sexes but the area around it tells mostly a lot. Females show several yellow spots around it, which are best visible if the animals are held against clean glass under water and illuminated with a strong flashlight. Sometimes makro shots are anyhow a good way to observe the genital area of plecos. With the bare eyes those little spots are mostly only hard to see.

This L-number is a cave breeder. The male takes care of the egg batch till the fry hatch and eat up their yolk sac.

This species has reportedly been bred several times in the hobby. Other than most Pseudacanthicus spp., the fry of "L97" don't seem to be so sensible and develop better, without big losses. To get this pleco to breed, big water changes with soft water should be applied. But also good and protein rich food is necessary, like EBO Insect granulaat, Futterdose Snail granulaat and EBO mussel granulaat.