Identifying pleco

[bbitsaboy]

Hey yall. I got this pleco about 6 months ago and I am starting to second guess whether or not it's a gold nugget pleco since I keep finding conflicting images. In the pictures the dorsal and tail fin have bright yellow along with the yellow dots and obviously mine does not. Is that a requirement for the strain or is it just a color variance? Also she is about 3-4" long.

I love her either way since she is very pretty and she just started coming to the front of the tank after living in the huge hollow log in my 150g for the first 6 months, but I would like to know so I can make sure I know what to expect. Thanks a bunch!

[EggShappedFish]

I am not even close to being an expert with plecos, but I think that you are right to doubt that it is a gold nugget.
There are several species that have the dots, with no stripes on the dorsal and tail fin.

some examples:

• Opal spot pleco
• Vampire Pleco
• Adonis Pleco
• Blue Phantom Pleco
• Peppermint Pleco

Then you have all the hybrids, so it can be difficult to say really

[Guppysnail]

@Odd Duckand @Colu are who I would ask.  Odd duck keeps Gold nuggets.  

Baryancistrus xanthellus

When researching fish it helps to use the scientific name when looking things up.  Many people using common names on the internet have misidentified fish or just have something similar so use that common name. As well as folks who are scamming selling mislabeled fish.  This leads to search engines bringing up a wide array of varying photos and information. 

I found this showing photos of wild caught specimens. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Lateral-view-of-live-specimens-of-Baryancistrus-xanthellus-INPA-31473-paratypes_fig2_262462409

[EggShappedFish]

Ah very interesting! I didn't know that they lost their stripes when they grew older!

[Colu]

Possibly a gold nugget pleco if I remember rightly they do lose the yellow on the edge of the tail fin another guess would snowball pleco  

Edited February 15 by Colu

[T. Payne]

100% not gold nugget. I would post this on planetcatfish.com for ID.

[anewbie]

gold nuggets get large - around 10 inches; there are other aspects that make me think it is not one of the various gold nugget species - another is they require 84+ temp at lower temp it would die pretty quickly.  Maybe L-136 - they grow to 4 inches but pictures suggest a stronger density of dots - there are variance of them l136a, l136b, ...do they have white on the belly ? There are many pleco with a similar look; there are also some bns with white and gold dots and your pleco is not so disimilar to a female bn.

 

If you do post on planetcatfish you are going ot want a sharp picture of the belly as well as the side - also post what you learn here 😉

 

[bbitsaboy]

Thanks yall for answering! I was on a business trip so I wasn't able to reply the last few days. It's going to take a while to get a belly picture of her since she never hangs out on the glass. I might put some zucchini with a magnet on the glass and see if maybe that will get her to come over and hang out long enough to get a decent Pic. 

She does look like a bristlenose tho, that is totally true, and I remember asking when I got her how big since I don't want to buy a fish I don't have "forever" space for, and I think they said max if she got really big was 6" which is another reason why I was thinking probably not a gold nugget. 

She's in my 150g with the temp being around 75-77°F so definitely not 84. 

But all of this is super great information, I've certainly learned a few things and when I get more pictures I'll post to that other forum and see what I get! I'll make sure to update this when I get a positive ID!

[bbitsaboy]

On 2/14/2024 at 6:00 AM, Colu said:

Possibly a gold nugget pleco if I remember rightly they do lose the yellow on the edge of the tail fin another guess would snowball pleco  

I think, looking at pictures snowball is probably correct. I'm still going to try and get some more good pictures of her and try planet catfish but looking at basic parameters and size, it fits perfectly. I think I originally over looked snowball because they said white polkadot but looking more in depth it also says white to light yellow. That and she is not picky at all about what she gets and isn't often eating algae.

[Odd Duck]

Definitely not a gold nugget pleco since they all have a notable gold margin to tail and dorsal fin at that size (guessing size in comparison to your gravel).  Gold nuggets can be a challenging species to keep, but my oldest has been at 78’F for 3 years and still doing well.  One of these days I’ll get my 180 G set up and transfer him(?) and may work him up to a more typically recommended temp.  The younger nuggets I’ve gotten have not done well at the “recommended” temp but it may be more a matter of figuring out what they will eat reliably.  They are noted for having a rough transition from the wild which is why I’ve been trying so hard to get a group to breeding size.  It’s been very frustrating.

To me, that looks most like a yellow form snowball pleco.  Vampire plecos (Leporacanthicus galaxias) usually have smaller spots spread farther apart, same with Adonis plecos (Acanthicus adonis).  Blue phantoms (Hemiancistrus sp L128) don’t usually have such distinct spots, tend to be more dark grey than black, or have a blue-ish look, and peppermint plecos (Parancistrus nudiventris) usually have pretty distinct white margins to dorsal and caudal fins at this size.

A very pretty pleco no matter the species!  Planetcatfish forum is a good plan as there are experts on there that are probably your best bet at an accurate ID.