Bn L Number?

hi there everyone

im pretty new to this forum and new to keeping tropical fish.

Ive just purchased a Bristlenose pleco and the reason i chose the one i did is because the shop keeper told me that out of all the ones he had this one was a natural breed and he said it had a L number. My questions are, What is an L number for? and What will the L number of my pleco be? (the pleco seems to have what looks like a yellow line running down the spine with it turning into a band which runs round it body just before the caudal fin).

Btw ive fell in love with this fish already and its not even in the tank yet.

(sorry cant get a pic at the moment but will try if the description is not clear enough)

L numbers are given to Loricariidae (plecos) that are not yet scientifically described.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-number

I'm struggling with your description, a photo will definitely help, in the meantime if it is an Ancistrus (bristlenose) then it should be in the link below

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=4#736

quote name='xingumike' timestamp='1319474865' post='3150627']
L numbers are given to Loricariidae (plecos) that are not yet scientifically described.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-number

I'm struggling with your description, a photo will definitely help, in the meantime if it is an Ancistrus (bristlenose) then it should be in the link below

http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=4#736
[/quote]

sorry about the description i think i may have been wrong as i didn't get a good look before he went in the tank as the bag was steamed up.
Ive just contacted the aquatic centre where i made the purchase and they said it was just an ordinary brown bristlenose pleco, even though the gentleman that served me said it had an L number but was not sure what it was so now im confused.

heres some pics i managed to take. Not the best but something to go off. Btw its only about 1.5-2"

Pretty sure that is a 'piebald' colour morph of a 'common' BN, known now as Ancistrus cf cirrhosus I think.

Ya, that's a calico, one of several color morphs of the common BN, tank-raised for so many generations that nobody even knows where they came from originally. The seller may be misinformed, but they're about as "natural" as guppies or goldfish. On the other hand, they are quite adaptable to different aquarium conditions, and considerably easier to breed/raise than most wild-caught species. Excellent algae eaters throughout their whole life, unlike the common pleco's that grow too big for most tanks and outgrow their taste for algae long before they outgrow the tank.

Thank you both for that info.

Do any of you have any idea why sometimes her back between the eyes and the dorsal sometimes goes a shade of red?

Unless it is an injury (which should be obvious) then I would put it down to stress colouration.

Most species have the ability to change their colours dependent on lots of factors.

I've seen it on newly introduced fish, after I have been doing tank maintenance, even during feeding.

I've also found my bristlenose to change colours depending on where she's sitting. So under a rock, she's nearly black, on the sand, a coffe-coloured brown. The time I put her in an orange plastic bowl to move tank, pissed off and mustard yellow

Ive been viewing her over the last few days and the red seems to be a natural colour patch, it made more sense when i found a super red variety.

i would like to get another small plec but not sure i can. would my bn be ok with another in the tank and would it be ok having 2 in a 65Ltr tank? (aqua one. aqua mode 600) im not so sure.