Native Pleco??

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Pyramid_Party

Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
4,916
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68
Monterey, CA
Hi,

Is there any native plecos to North America? I caught some fish in a net that looks very close to a pleco or IS a pleco. It is small, only like 1/2 inch. It is all black and has these few tiny white dots on it. Are plecos known to live and survive in southern California?
 
I've heard of pleco's being introduced to certain lakes in socal, but nothing thats native.... but I wish there was :(
 
So there is no species that even looks close to a pleco? Then if it is a pleco they are breeding cause this is a baby. I also found a dead catfish in the same lake that looked like a Rafael catfish. But it's not a Raphael but some type of armored catfish. I took a few pics too.
 
I just saw a talk at the local fish club about this a couple of weeks ago.

The closest that anything related to plecos come to the US as a native fish is one or more species in Southern Costa Rica.
 
Pyramid_Party said:
So there is no species that even looks close to a pleco? Then if it is a pleco they are breeding cause this is a baby. I also found a dead catfish in the same lake that looked like a Rafael catfish. But it's not a Raphael but some type of armored catfish. I took a few pics too.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've heard they are breeding, so that would explain why you found babies
 
Here in central Illinois we see them released from time to time. I'm not sure that they ever survive the winter though. With a milder climate, I'm sure they could survive year round, and possibly breed.

Josh H
 
It is really tiny. I only have seen it once since putting it in my tank. It's in a 10 gallon now with a few darters, snails, and shrimp. I did take a few pics of it but since it is so tiny they didn't come into focus well. I will try again. I looks a lot like a baby pleco, but I am no fish expert and don't know all the species in North America. So I can't put certain.
 
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