he first imports of the “Vampire Plec”, the common name given because of its unique tooth pattern, (large teeth in the upper jaw) were from Belem in Brazil by a German fish exporter, Arthur Werner in 1985. It was one of the first of the ‘new plecs’ to come out of Brazil, and so it was given the ‘L’ number 007 ( shades of Bond!), it was not until 4 years later in 1989 that it was described to science.

Picture depicts juvenile colours. ( L007)

This striking Loricariid can be found with either yellow or white spots , but I would guess that the older the fish becomes, they would then fade to a dirty white colour, plus the spots get smaller and more defined, hence the difference in the juvenile and adult colourations. There are three other species in this genus, L. joselimai, Isbrücker and Nijssen 1989, from the Rio Tapajos, L. heterodon, Isbrücker and Nijssen 1989, from the Rio Xingu and the newest member named in 1992, L.triactis, Isbrücker, I. J. H., H. Nijssen and L. G. Nico 1992, where you can now find a factsheet on this latest species at ScotCat by clicking on the factsheet symbol

Adult colouration (L029)

Leporacanthicus is readily identifiable from all other Ancistrini by the development of only two teeth in each premaxilla, the inner teeth being very long (all other Ancistrini have more than two teeth in the premaxilla), by having a well-raised supraoccipital crest (the supraoccipital in most Ancistrini is flat to slightly raised) and by having numerous long barbels above the upper jaws. It has been hypothesized that the enlarged teeth of the upper jaw are used to remove snails from their shells (Burgess 1994).

The L-number L 029, is actually the adult version of our factsheet of the month, as can be seen in the two images depicted.

Footnote: (04/07/2006) There is a train of thought that L. galaxias is L 029 and L 007 is a different fish, i.e. L. cf.  galaxias. L.029  has a shorter dorsal, smaller spots and a longer head but we may be dealing  with juvenile and adult  specimens here. For clarity we have pictured all varieties here as  Leporacanthicus galaxias.