Sexing L316 Jari Zebra Pleco

[John]

L400 with a lot of white in their stripe pattern are often consiously or unconsiously offered by clever fishtraders as L236 or L250.

Hope this helps, so if you see a L236 offered it's 99,9% of the times a L400 with a very attractive stripe pattern with a lot of white.

[dave]

If the seller can tell us which river they came from with any degree of certainty, then it might help identify the species.

IMO it is not 316.

L400 looks on the cards, again IMO.

While I may be coming across as a grumpy old man, do I care, no.

There is enough confusion with L333, at least 3 different species, so labelling species without being certain is unhelpful, and IMO detrimental to the conservation of any particular species.

In addition if you decide to add additional specmens at a later stage, who knows what your adding if the seller doesn't know.

Dave

[John]

If the seller can tell us which river they came from with any degree of certainty, then it might help identify the species.

Here is exactly the problem, they can't because that info is with the fisherman who caught the specimen.
All your LFS can tell you is well i ordered this L number and this is what i've got, so that's the L number they are selling it for.
Maybe they have got info from what area the exporter is from, but even then you are not 100% certain.

[smithrc]

If I may jump on the band waggon...

I bought 5 of these ages ago... (18 months nearly)
Seeing these Piccys they look like they are 400's

What do you think?
(It was me that ID'd them as 236's so ignore the titles, The L400s hadnt been "classified" when I got them )

www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs/L236s

I'll add some more upto date pictures when my web space is working properly

[andrewcoxon]

so the verdict is that iv got L400's not 316's? what about sex

all the best,

andy

[John]

Don't know if you've got sex andy, you tell me

Just joking, 2 males i think.

You might ask Dave for some girls tough, since he got 20 of them.

[John]

www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs/L236s

I'll add some more upto date pictures when my web space is working properly

This page doesn't load at all smithrc

[dave]

I understand the problems about finding the actual source.

When I got my fish, Wholesale Tropicals were unsure what they were.

They enquired to a member of Planet Catfish, who is supposedly an expert. A concensus came back that they were L400's and from the pics I've seen I tend to agree.

Another difficulty is that in many cases, the patterns vary a lot, also, with juveniles, sub adults and adults.

Pleco Fanatics is also excellent at identifying fish.

As for your fish in the pics Smith, I would hazard a guess at L270.

I am not an expert on identification and usually rely on the opinion of others.

Dave

[smithrc]

www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs/L236s

I'll add some more upto date pictures when my web space is working properly

This page doesn't load at all smithrc

Is now - My web host is making changes to something or another at the moment - none of my piccys were working either

[andrewcoxon]

well marcus from plecoaquatics has refused to give me a refund and says if i want to swap them i have to pay for the postage charges both ways. to be honest i wish id never bought anything from them, all 4 fish arrived in the same bag! (3 supposed 316's 1 male 2 female, and 1 titanic pleco) one of the 316's died a few days later with not a mark on its body and the water parameters spot on, i asked for a refund and he said the manager wouldnt let him (even though id had a conversation with him a few weeks prior about how rewarding YOUR OWN fish business can be?!) and now i find out that they arnt even the same species i ordered and he still refuses to budge on a refund and the only way i can change them is if i pay for postage both ways... and get something different sent up.... think il pass!

[John]

I think if this guy didn't deliver what he sold, he's got to pay for the mistake not you.
Maybe this way you get some knowledge on the sellers side, instead of only the profits.
IMO you can not make a mistake to sell a L400 for a L316 or your name must be stevie wonder

[andrewcoxon]

exactly mate!

had another e-mail this evening from marcus at pleco aquatics saying basically that eveyone else is wrong in their id and they are true 316's... no refund and if i want to swap i have to pay for postage both ways... its a total joke!

its the last time im ordering anything from those rookies

[John]

L316:




L400:




Easy to mix up and mis id those

[Miezekatze]

hi

just one note:

the transfish pics often show extraordinary plecos. perhaps 1 of 100 will look this way if you buy it. so please be careful with this pics..

[John]

@ miezekatze: i know what you mean but i did choose this picture because this example of L400 was not a extraordinary specimen, i've seen more beautifull ones, almost as fine lined as L250