Peckoltia compta “L134”

Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Loricarioidei
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Genus: Peckoltia
Species: Peckoltia compta, de Oliveira, Zuanon, Rapp Py-Daniel & Rocha, 2010

This little pleco has always been a favourite in the aquarium hobby, since it is an easy to keep fish with a marvelous pattern.

On a whitish to yellow ground coloration, a lot of black bands, squiggles and dots are visible. This species has a very variable pattern which is mostly more banded and a more yellow background color in younger age and starts to get more complex and broken up the older they get. There is also some differences in local forms regarding the pattern. For example, the adult plecos that come from the Rio Jamanxim are much more spotted than the plecos from the Rio Tapajós.

In the hobby this pleco is also known under the name Leopard Frog pleco.

With the description of the species they collected specimen of two different locations; Rio Tapajós and Rio Jamanxim. Both are clear water rivers.
The Rio Tapajós is one of the great tributaries of the Amazon.

Here they live in moderate to fast flowing waters, with a rocky bottom. The fish is commonly found on rocks, in surprisingly still water.

The most exported "L134" are from the Rio Tapajós.

The Peckoltia compta is an omnivore and eats everything.

The mouth of this species shows rather pointy but not the biggest teeth. Those teeth can't be put into a certain category since they show traits of both a herbivore and carnivore. Fish with a mixed diet like "L134" are called omnivores, since they are not picky when it comes to a certain type of food and eat all kinds of invertebrates, dead fish, algae, water plants, biofilm and so on.

In captivity they can be fed with all kind of industrial but also natural fish food. From frosted artemia, mosquito larvae, krill etc. to dry food like granules, pellets and sinking flakes, everything is eaten good. It is important to feed both, green food and also animal proteins.

We feed these fish mostly with Insect soft granulate, Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Garlic and Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Green.

An aquarium for "L134" doesn't have to be so big since this species also doesn't get to big. In a tank with 80 - 100 cm you can keep a group of 5 - 6 pieces successfully.

It is possible to keep this species with other species in the same aquarium. It is a calm species and is peaceful towards conspecifics or other species.
But beware of larger and coarser species, the "L134" is easily disturbed and uncomfortable, so it hides a lot and you see it very little.

Next to a good water quality and a high oxygen content, it is also important to have enough hiding places in the aquarium. This can easy be made with caves, stones or plates. Also soft wood is important because these plecos will eat from it.
Contrary to most advice, this species does not require such a strong current as they are in the wild more commonly found in river sections with less current.

When it comes to sexing Peckoltia compta "L134", especially secundary sexual traits make it easy to differenciate them.

From the side view we see, that already the body shape tells a lot about the sex of these plecos. The male on top shows a flatter body. The female shows a high and round body. Of course this is again better visible, when the female is gravid.

The males head seems to be a bit longer when looked from the side. Also the tip of the snout is broader than the one of the female.

Both male and female show no odontode growth on the snout.

The gill flaps can be covered with long odontodes in both sexes. In this case the female even shows longer ones. The males odontodes seem to be a bit thicker.

The odontodes on the pectoral fins are also rather similar with both sexes and can't really be used as a sexing indicator.

The genus Peckoltia is known for the "hairy" tails of males. "L134" doesn't show them always really pronounced. With a closer look, you can spot, that males show longer odontodes on the sides of the tail. The length of them is in general quite individual and are sometimes really prominent but also sometimes not really visible with males.

The fastest and easiest way to sex this species is the via the look from above. Males have a big head and their broadest part of the body around the shoulders. Females have a totally different shape. A small head is followed by a robust and curved body. The broadest part is in the belly region between pectoral an pelvic fins.

The head of males is in general just bigger and broader compared to the rest of the body. Thin females are sometimes a bit hard to sex, but the smaller head is a good indicator for being female.

Judging the sex over the papilla alone is in the case of Peckoltia compta not always successful, since males can show a rather big and round papilla. But the shape of the papilla is not the only indicator. Females show yellow dots around the papilla, which are missing with males.

Breeding seems to work either really difficult or really easy depending on the breeding group. In our experience after bred specimens breed more often over the year, where as wild specimens tend spawn mostly in autumn.

Those plecos are cave breeders and the male will take care of the eggs.

We use for this pleco many different caves; round, square and triangle. That way they can choose their own cave which they prefer.