A word about scientific names, common names and 'L-numbers'.Many of the plecos available to hobbyists are not yet fully
classified by science or there is some doubt as to their correct
classification. There are generally 3 ways to describe a pleco, its
scientific name where known (family / subfamily - genus - species) its
common name (usually the trade name under which it is sold and highly
unreliable as it vaires from company to company and country to country)
or its 'L-number'. L-Numbers were invented by a German tropical fish
magazine (DATZ) in an effort to make the naming and identification
of these fish easier, there are some 330+ L numbers described and while
not allways 100% accurate from publication to publication they are
better than the highly confusing common names. The best source for
identifying plecos I know of is the planet
catfish web site. Why go to all the bother ? Well despite looking
similar there are a range of habitat and feeding requirements for the
various genus of pleco's and it is good to have a rough idea of the
requirements for your particular fish, even if you cant identify it down
to the species level. |
GenusSome of the more well known Genus (and common names which may or maynot apply across an entire genus) which are available in New Zealand include... Hypostomus spp. - The common Pleco
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