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FACTSHEETS: November 2010 - no. 173

Panaqolus albivermis Lujan, Steele & Velasquez, 2013

lash by name and flash by looks!, that is the subject of this months (Nov. 2010) factsheet. A very nice looking member of the Loricariidae family and as not yet has not been named to species so it has had the L-number of L204 since February 1996 from the DATZ magazine pages 74-75.

Update: As of July 2013 this species has now been described by Lujan, Steele & Velasquez as Panaqolus albivermis. The specific name of albivermus meaning; alba = white and vermis = worm, relating to the white to yellow lines on the body.

Panaqolus albivermis = adult

Panaqolus albivermis - adult

There is an actual school of thought, mainly in Germany, that the smaller Panaques are actually Panaqolus and the larger species are Panaque (now seperate genera's). The differences are that Panaque have an oval shaped mouth and the jaws have very large spatulate teeth with a single cusp, arranged in a v form and Panaqolus have a small number of spatulate teeth and are also smaller.

The juveniles of this species have a very bold pattern of light stripes which form into spots and stripes with age as can be seen on the above image and the juvenile markings shown in the image below.

Panaqolus albivermis - Juvenile colours.

Panaqolus albivermis - juvenile

Tank set-up should contain wood of some description as the Panaques need this in their diet. Plants will not work too well as they will be eaten so plenty of wood scattered around the tank with a few caves for spawning activities on a sand or small rounded gravel bed will do just fine. Provide strong aeration due to the higher temperatures involved.

Common Name

Flash Pleco, L204

Synonyms

None

Family

Loricariidae

Subfamily

Ancistrinae

Distribution:

Peru: Middle to upper Rio Ucayali drainage.

Size

14.0cm. (5½ins)

Temp.

25-29°c (77-85°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.5.

Characteristics

Oval mouth region with a small number of spatulate teeth with a single cusp, arranged in a V.

Colouration

Juveniles will sport white stripes on a black body but this will often break up into spots/thinner stripes when maturing into adulthood. The base colour is dark brown with yellow thin vertical lines.

Aquarium Care & Compatibility

Peaceful Loracariids that will co-exist with fishes that like temperatures on the higher side. Will co-exist fine with shoaling Tetra's or small Cichlids. Will get slightly territorial with age.

Reproduction

Plenty of water changes seem to be the catalyst for the breeding of this species. Male will make a home in the cave and the female will visit where up to 70 eggs will be laid. The female will be ejected by the male and he will care for the eggs. After the fry have used up their yolk sac they can be fed with pleco tablets and will also graze, like their parents on soft wood provided by the aquarist.

Sexual Differences

Males posses a broad head and odontodes on the posterior part of the body, behind the gill covers and on the pectoral spines. The latter two are a lot shorter in the females.

Diet

All Panaque (Panaqolus) are wood eaters so would need this in an aquarium set-up. Feed also vegetable foods such as cucumber and courgette (zucchini) and sinking tablets.

Etymology

Panaqolus: The name "olus" meaning small, as in small Panaque.
albivermis: alba = white and vermis = worm, relating to the white to yellow lines on the body.

References

Seidel, I. 2008. Back to Nature guide to L-catfishes, Ettlingen, Germany 208 p.

Lujan, NK, S Steele & M Velasquez, 2013. A new distinctively banded species of Panaqolus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the western Amazon Basin in Peru. Zootaxa 3961: 192–198.

Photo Credits

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ScotCat Sources

Etymology-genera

Etymology-specific name

Online Sources

Fishbase

Catalog of Fishes

GBIF

Fishnet2

iNaturalist