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I bought a pleco a while back and was told it was a bristlenose Pleco. Well i had yet to see any bristles grow on the pleco. Well today while i was doing a WC i got the pleco in my nex and i saw what looked to be bristles on the gills of the pleco but nowhere else. Is this a true bristlenose? is it a female? What can you guys tell me about this pleco? Thanks

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

How big is the pleco? My bristlenose took so long to grow more than tiny little bristles along the edge of his mouth that I thought it was a female. It hasn't been until the past six months or so that he's started to develop more bristles. He's about three inches nose to base of tail.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Sometimes the females dont show much in the way of bristles,there are a few species of "bristlenose" plecs, and they vary morphologically, but I wouldnt be surprised if you have a misidentified species, perhaps a small clown plec or similar.

Post a piccy and then we will be able to visually identify it for you.

A picture would help greatly. In any case, most bristlenose plecs do indeed have bristles; however, in juveniles and females, they are quite reduced.

The fact, however, that your plec has "bristles" on its gills leads me to believe that this fish might not be a bristlenose plec. These bristles on the gills are different from the fleshy "bristles" that would be found on the snout. These gill bristles are called odontodes. Odontodes are found in a variety of groups of plecos, including the bristlenose species, and is an alternative sign of a maturing or mature male in many groups (although they are present in females as well in some). What is strange is that the fish has these odontodes but does not have the characteristic bristles, which both develop in mature males; although I have never kept bristlenose plecs, I would assume that the bristles develop first or at least simultaneously to the odontodes.

Try www.planetcatfish.com for a gallery in their Cat-eLog of various bristlenose species (family Loricariidae, genus Ancistrus) and other plecos to compare your pleco to.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.