SCOTCAT.COM  

Shane Linder offers the following on the possible identity of this species: "P. suttonorum, Schultz 1944, the scientific name commonly applied to the blue-eyed pleco in the aquarium hobby, is an incorrect identification. Schultz described live specimens of P. suttonorum as, "Uniformely grayish...basal two-thirds of the paired fins black, and the tips of these fins white; the posterior margin of dorsal is white, a narrow white bar across caudal peduncle, middle of caudal fin white then some black blotches; the tips of the rays are white." While P. suttonorum sounds like a very attractive fish, this is clearly not a description of the blue-eyed pleco found in the hobby. P. suttonorum is restricted to the Lake Maracaibo basin and no aquarium fishes have ever been exported from there. The fishes from that basin are very unique and if we had a shipment from there we would know it immediately. We also know that blue-eyed pleco shipments come from Colombia and P. suttonorum is restricted to Venezuela. I have NEVER seen blue-eyed plecos in a Caracas exporter.My best guess is that the fish we know as old blue-eyes is either P.cochliodon or a closely related (but undescribed) Colombian relative."

You might actually think that I have misspelled the species name here as most aquarists would be familiar with Panaque suttoni instead of suttonorum, well there is a story behind this which lay uncovered for the best part of 53 years and was discovered by the famous Ichthyologist Dr.Issac Isbrùcker well known for his work with this family. When Leonard Schultz described this species in 1944 it was in honour of Dr.and Mrs Frederick A.Sutton and was subsequently named P.suttoni but the Code of Zoological Nomenclature (the naming of species i.e.: a system of names to you and I!) states that if a fish is named after a man it ends in ~i (P.suttoni) but named after a women it will end in ~ae ( P.suttonae) but naming after a man and woman together it should end in ~orum, thus Panaque suttonorum. So there we have it, easy when you know how :-)

Panaque cochliodon - showing the odontodes (cheek spines)

The main criteria for the Panaque genus is their spoon-shaped teeth used for rasping the algae beds in their native rivers, this is their main diet in the wild but will also adapt to prepared tablet food in captivity.

The one imposing feature of this catfish is of course the blue eyes, where the common name derives from, and a healthy specimen will have bright blue eyes and of course will not have a hollow belly or sunken eyes, so keep a lookout for this if purchasing. On the subject of purchasing please make sure that you can look after this animal in good water conditions. Think about it again if you are buying one as they are not that easy to keep. There is more stories of this fish just dying for no apparent reason than most catfish I know off.

Acknowledgments: Shane Linder for his input to this Factsheet.

Factsheet update Sept.2004: I have finely got around to updating this species and we now know that Panaque sp. suttonorum is in actaul fact, Panaque cochlidon (Steindachner, 1879) I have thus changed the title of this factsheet to show the changes