Bn, L?, Plec?

[hollanda88]

Can someone explain the terminology for plecs. I don't understand the L number part, and are there loads of bristle nose cats? Is bristle nose a trait that can be expressed through genetics in some fish but not other or is it a perminant trait that is expressed at all generations??

andrew

 

[rabbut]

The L number system is used to identify the species of plec. There are loads of plecs that haven't yet been formally described by science, and hence have no name, so we need to ID them some other way. We do this by attaching an L number to all plecs that look similar to each other in appearance, so that we may ID then untill some Taxonomist does actually decribe them to science and give them a propper name

There are loads of bristle noses, as most of the Ansistrus group will get the bristles that are typical of a "bristle nose" plec. Only the male BN's show obvious bristles though, the females do not

HTH
Rabbut

 

[hollanda88]

The L number system is used to identify the species of plec. There are loads of plecs that haven't yet been formally described by science, and hence have no name, so we need to ID them some other way. We do this by attaching an L number to all plecs that look similar to each other in appearance, so that we may ID then untill some Taxonomist does actually decribe them to science and give them a propper name

There are loads of bristle noses, as most of the Ansistrus group will get the bristles that are typical of a "bristle nose" plec. Only the male BN's show obvious bristles though, the females do not

HTH
Rabbut

So a gibicep is a plec but wont have an L number

 

[rabbut]

Gibby's do have an L number. It's in the single didgets, but I can't rember it off the top of my head. They are named though, so the L number is redundant

 

[hollanda88]

Gibby's do have an L number. It's in the single didgets, but I can't rember it off the top of my head. They are named though, so the L number is redundant

What does the L stand for, or is it a taxonamist thing like the family they all belong to.

andrew

 

[rabbut]

It doesn't stand for anything as far as I'm aware. It's just a way to ID a fish that has not yet been officially named/described by a scientist. Basically, hobbyists say, that fish looks like that one and that one, so well call those Lsomething so that we can tell them appart from those three over there that look slightly different, and we'll call the latter three Lsomething-else Once the L number is establised and a fair few people all know what the fish is supposed to look like, the LFS can then order them in for people, according to their L number using their supplier and be fairly shure that what they get will be very similar to what they are supposed to look like (well, that's the theory, practice is different IME)

 

[love4aquatic]

It doesn't stand for anything as far as I'm aware. It's just a way to ID a fish that has not yet been officially named/described by a scientist. Basically, hobbyists say, that fish looks like that one and that one, so well call those Lsomething so that we can tell them appart from those three over there that look slightly different, and we'll call the latter three Lsomething-else Once the L number is establised and a fair few people all know what the fish is supposed to look like, the LFS can then order them in for people, according to their L number using their supplier and be fairly shure that what they get will be very similar to what they are supposed to look like (well, that's the theory, practice is different IME)

i think the L stands for loricariid