Article © Erwin Schraml, uploaded January 01, 2002.

Another new L-number has been introduced in the April 2000 issue of the German aquarium magazine DATZ. This "new" loricariid, L280, has been imported into Germany via Transfish since the beginning of 1997. It is from the upper Orinoco river in Venezuela. The species is characterized by its small size of 5-6 cm (about two inches). The overall body colour is black with many small white spots. The entire body is covered by odontodes. Because of these, the author, André Werner (the son of Arthur Werner the owner of Transfish), suggests a possible connection with the genus Pseudacanthicus.

In my eyes this is not one of the best introductions of a new L-number. The fish is introduced with a less than informative photograph. Too many loricariids posses black basic colouration with white spots to be able to differentiate them from this new L Number. No information is given on the dentition (teeth) which are a key identifier among the various genera and species. I also question the possible relation to Pseudacanthicus based solely on the large number of odontodes. Pseudacanthicus also sport knife-like thorns on the side in addition to the odontodes.

So what might this species be? Because of the odontodes the specimen might be a male of a Peckoltia-like species while the colouration leads me to believe it might be related to L201. L201 was also introduced from the same area and shows a large variation in the size of the white spots. Unfortunately, since no information on the dentition was provided, it is hard to tell. If the species has only a few teeth with two cusps each it probably is the same species as L201.

Reference : Werner, A.: Neu importiert: Orinoco-Harnischwels (DATZ 53 (4) 2000: 7)

There is further information on this species on the Cat-eLog page.

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