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So this afternoon, I came in to feed my fish. I noticed that my pleco was no where to be found... this was odd, considering it is an 8" pleco in a 55 gallon tank along with a Jack Dempsey and Convict. I looked all over and found my pleco upside down behind the tank on the floor. I thought he was for sure a goner. I went in to net him and noticed slight movement of his fins. I put him back in the water and he swam back into his cave. I thought this was amazing considering he must have been out of the water for AT LEAST 4 hours, I say this because he wasn't very moist, and my brother said he couldn't find him earlier that morning. He seems a little stressed out, but I think hes going to live, hes already swimming normally and hes suctioned himself to the side of the glass right now.

Thats good to hear.
I am not amazed plecos are some of the hardiest fish around

-Vincent

They most certainly are, I checked my water parameters and they were normal, so im guessing what happened is the Jack Dempsey or Convict got too terretorial... im not really sure though.

Indeed some plecostomus can occasionally be found in certain parts of their range in a kind of diapause above immediate water level, encased in mud rather as you would expect to find and african lungfish in the dry season. There is obviously some sort of inherited genetic ability to tolerate prolonged dehydration in a few species. All the same youre still a very lucky guy to have a plec pull through after that.

Hope he makes a full recovery.

that is good to hear he is doing better.i just wanted to let you know if you didnt already that plecos are air breathing fish wich makes living out side of water for long periods of time somewhat possible.good luck with your pleco

...I have not ever heard of loricariids being encased in mud for extended periods of time. They can, however, move over short distances on land due to swim ladder modifications.

if he is getting bullied by your stronger cichlids,you mite want to set up a cave that only he can fit into,so it dosent happen again..if he already has a tight fitting cave then you mite want to keep a closer eye to see if you can find out why he wants to depart from your tank.

Cup buddy, if you check the baesnch atlases im pretty sure in one of them has an actual pic of a plec doing just that, someone had just dug out the hole opening to reveal the fish.(oddly enough it might be in the cichlid atlas vol 1 somewhere , theres pics of animals that cohabit with the cichlids, and its on one of the colour plates there somewhere.)I first read about it in an encyclopedia about 25 years ago, and that had photos too.Its extremophile behavior , but im sure it happens in at least one species. I rememeber something about the same holes that birds dig out in the banks in the dry season are lengthened by the plecs in the wet season, and used for their own breeding .The plecs that go into diapause may do so with their own eggs. The birds nest over the top of them during the dry season without ever knowing theyre there, and when the rains come the nests are flooded, the soil loosens and the plecs wake up and the eggs get a chance to hatch too! Fascinating stuff really, and well worth researching.

Yup , im not going insane, theres lots of documentation on the subject, and sailfins, and snowflakes are well known for doing it.In fact just found a reference, http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Liposarcus_anisitsi.html

...and there are some references to the behaviour catalogued to a professional standard in :

Fish Skulls: A Study of the Evolution of Natural Mechanisms by
William K. Gregory

....and I just found a dozen more and cant be bothered to post them all, besides youll have fun researching it.

It also explains how they store oxygen,in organs including the liver, although I shouldnt think they can do this without being semi- dormant.Turns out a few are capable of dormancy in cold conditions too.