Most common plecos I've seen have been a mottled brown colour, and no where near the sleek, elegant, almost black common pleco you have! But then again, most common plecos I've seen haven't been in big enough tanks or have been otherwise neglected, so perhaps he's an especially pretty one just by luck, or maybe being kept in the right conditions and on a great diet has made the difference!
Whatever the cause, he's breathtaking! Literally took a breath and said "wow!" to myself at the latest pic. But also, love the video of him in motion, and when he's around the huge fancy goldfish, also gives a better scale for size!
There are several species of pleco called "common pleco". Some are massive, easily 24" potential. These honestly should never be in the hobby. Most people will not have a 72" × 30" base tank to be able to allow them proper space.
This would be species such as Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus for example. Looks similar to pardalis, best told apart by belly pattern in some fish. They'll have squiggly marks on the belly instead of irregular spotting.
Then others, such as Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus, aka gold spot common pleco, stay a "smaller" 12" length.
Then there's the sailfin common pleco, Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps, which reach about 17-19" full size. These guys have larger sail-like dorsal fins and tend to have a more honeycomb pattern to them.
There's some in the hypostomus genus as well that get massive, also among those labeled common plecos. These guys usually tend to be a brownish grey with dark spots. But they can be hard to tell apart from one another, so that's a big gamble between a 8" fish to a 30" fish
He was about 9" I think when I got him from my coworker, but you can see his spotted belly. Had to take pics to determine what species he was initially. He was 5 years old when I got him, he was housed in a 55 gallon his whole life. He's now years old and has grown considerably since being put into a 135g
Here are some Google screenshots:
P. Pardalis (what I have)
P. Joselimaianus
P. Disjunctivus
And P. Gibbiceps, an adult and subadult. Juvies have bigger markings
And hypostomus
The light is out on my roomies tank or I would post a pic of our big guy, I think he's the same genre as yours.
Having not kept plecos myself I havent done any in depth reading on them.
Its nice to know the official names for these appendages.
I moved in somewhere that has the two large plecos.
My fave is the Albino.
Shes so cool when munching her biscuits or a nice piece of Zucchini.
I have breeding Cory's and Blue Velvet shrimps, a pair of Kribensis (separate tank) and just acquired a pretty little Veiltail betta
Your guy is Pterygoplichthys pardalis as well, the other "common" albino is Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps, but gibbiceps has a hook like spine on the back of the head, while pardalis does not and has a more sleek profile. They get so large but they're really outgoing fish. Mine eats goldfish pellets from the surface and it's amusing to watch. Toss a floating piece of Zucchini and he will swim around midwinter eating it.
(Cass and I both love catfish)
