What The, Where The.. Huh?

[Amunet]

I was just feeding the fish in the 125gal tank. Looked down and THOUGHT I saw a really sickly looking cory. So I squatted down to get a better look, and WTH...it's a pleco!!!

Let me say that absolutely nothing has been added to this tank that could've had a pleco stuck to it. Nothing has been added other than 3 killifish in almost a year.
We do have 1 regular sailfin pleco in the tank, but that's it. Just the one.
We HAD others in the tank before the sailfin when we were trying to find a smaller pleco for the tank. I think 1 bristlenose and some rubberlip plecos, but those all ended up dying for whatever reason. Once again, that was close to a year ago.
So where on earth did this little fella come from??

It's a little smaller than an inch and a half long.
Any help telling me where this fish came from and what kind of pleco would be great.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Perhaps you have a new species of Plec that has killifish egg laying tendencies, needing a "dry spell" followed by a "wet spell" to promote egg growth!

Looks to have lovely giraffe-like marking, perhaps a Synodontis decorus youngster? Probably not, I've not really looked at catfish in any sort of detail

 

[Amunet]

Nope, not a Synodontis decorus.
I've stared at it enough to see that it's an actual pleco lol.
I dunno... maybe one of the ones we had gotten before spawned before dying. I mean that's all I can think of that may have happened. B/c the big one we have now has always been the only pleco in the tank... well.. apparently besides this one that has been hiding somewhere.

I'm trying to remember exactly when we got the other plecos...

 

[Amunet]

Ah ha! Found my plant journal post. Trying to find something referring to the plecos we got. One of them is from June 5th of last year. Photo showing a small rubberlip pleco. I know we went hrough I think at least 3 before we stopped trying them.
And then I found another post of mine showing when I got the big pleco which was June 27th 2009.
And I know it was the only one in the tank at the time. That's why we got it b/c all of the smaller plecos ended up dying so we thought WTH lets try one that gets big.

So yeah, absolutely NO idea where this little pleco came from. How long do pleco eggs take to hatch? How long do they take to grow?
Hope this little guy is ok. I mean has to be if it has survived for this long I guess.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Try and getter a better pic, so catfish owners have a better chance of helping ID this fish

 

[Amunet]

I tried to last night, but as soon as I went to take the photo, the lil fish turned its fishy butt at me. If I see it again though, I'll try to get a better photo.
I think it may be a rubberlip. Looks like it has a really big snozzle on it, but I'm obviously no expert.

 

[JenCliBee]

I tried to last night, but as soon as I went to take the photo, the lil fish turned its fishy butt at me. If I see it again though, I'll try to get a better photo.
I think it may be a rubberlip. Looks like it has a really big snozzle on it, but I'm obviously no expert.

Have to agree, looks like a baby bulldog... really cute at that age lol.

 

[Amunet]

Here are some more photos of it. They're all the same angle but that's all I could get.
It's been hiding and these were the best I could get where it was.

We haven't had rubberlip, bulldog, whatever plecos in over a year. How long does it take these to grow? I know they're one of the smaller plecos, but still.. at a year old or almost a year, however long it takes for the eggs to hatch... wouldn't it have grown more than just a measley inch? Er well.. about inch and a half.

Thanks for all of the help & insight so far though

 

[kizno1]

Do you have a pic of its nose? it looks a little to brown to be a rubber nose to me but it might just be a different strain but all they ones ive ever seen have been grey.
dose it look anything like any of these pics?
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=407

 

[Amunet]

Definitely not that dark. Could be grey, or could be brown. It's a really light color whatever it is.
I think the rubberlips we had were more of a brown color. I'm not positive on that though since it's been so long since we had them.
If I see this little fella again I'll try to get a better look at just what color it is.

 

[JenCliBee]

It's a bulldog and it's only a baby as mentioned so colouration could and probably will change as it starts getting older, there are also varying colours and quite a few different chaetostoma species.

Profile of chaetostoma species HERE!! and these are just whats been identified, there is probably many more which haven't.

The size yes i would imagine it would have grown larger in that time, however if it is only getting scraps left from feeds then i guess it could well be causing it's slow growth?. Ive never bred these fish but i guess they could follow the traits of hypan species where many at 12 months old will only be 1.5 inches long.

Very strange for you to only just notice it but lovely surprise either way lol.

 

[Amunet]

Oh yeah, I'm not complaining about it. It just came as a shock to see a new little fish in the tank lol.
Well, hopefully now that it's coming out more, it will get more food. Although it has a lot to compete with with the other oinkers in the tank.

Saw it again earlier and it's def a very light shade of grey (minus the black spots).

 

[Amunet]

Well, that's the end of mystery pleco. Sigh.

Found the shell of its head last night when I was feeding the tank.
No idea if it had been sick and then got eaten, or maybe the BGK found it and decided to nom it. Poor lil pleco

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

That's so sad after being a mystery find just recently...

 

[my betta is retarted]

WAIT what if its a new type of hybrid or something. It looks like a bull plec but youve got to consider the facts. Also like any species there can also be runts, midgets, etc... And in a tank that size, It could have been "hiding"! It blends in in some photos maybe the other fish scared it and it stayed hidden and it might feel confident enough to come out now or something. Yes i no you can't e down there forever but it is really small.