Re: Bristling -- Nosing Around White Dwarfs and other Timid temminckii

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Thanks to Mary A, Gary, Jay, and all the folks that wrote on (and off)
list about the algae scourges known variously as bristlenose or
bushynose cats or plecos, or ancistrus latinni-namus.  Some
nomme-de-pleco include Ancistrus dolichopterus, Ancistrus cirrhosus,
Chaetostomus dolichopterus, Xenocara dolichoptera, Hypostomus
temminckii, Plecostomus aculeatus, Hypostomus schneideri, Xenocara
temminckii.

Sound vague?  Well apparently there are some specimens that are brown
with spots and some that are white (or more properly, albino) and some
that are gold.  And some that are dwarf (grow only to 3-4 inches) and
some that are not (grow to 5 or 6 or 7 inches) but are dwarves compared
to other Loricariidae.  Depending on the source, different lengths are
cited as typical of the species a. temminckii (or is that temmincki?). 
And I thought the subject of electronic fluorescent ballasts was a
mare's nest! 

I wonder if the smaller fish (3-5 inches) are subspecies or strains of
a. temmenckii (5-7 inches?),  which is itself, I believe a strain
derived from the in-the-wild ancistrus (perhaps a. dolichopterus)? 
Perhaps they (the 3-5 inches fish) are are just tank-bred fish that,
over generations, have become stunted compared to their wild kin?

The smaller ones are less often reported to harm plants other than
algae.  It took long enough for me just to find the larger a.
temminckii in my lfs.  Now the hunt is on for the shorter stock.

Scott H.

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