Pleco taxidermy
- Thread starter stratos
- Start date
Can't really say that I'm at all impressed by the quality of that taxidermy; sure, there are some cool fish there but they look like they were done at breakneck speed and on a tight budget. Sort of like those once-common dried piranhas that were sold mounted on a chunk of wood, with their lips clumsily carved away to display their teeth. Not exactly museum-quality specimens.
That pleco is impressive as hell, but...I've lost a couple of plecos over the years when they went unnoticed while I was removing a piece of driftwood temporarily to do some maintenance in the tank. The plecos dropped off and died on the floor, to be discovered only when I picked up the wood later in the day to return it to the tank. Frankly, they looked about as good as or better than that supposedly-taxidermied specimen!
I actually toyed with the idea of spraying one with varathane and just putting it on the shelf, but common sense prevailed. Hard tough shell notwithstanding...it's still a dead fish, with plenty of soft tissue inside to rot, stink, attract ants, etc. No thanks.
If I ever find myself in possession of a recently-deceased large pleco, I am thinking of having a taxidermist freeze-dry the thing. They are using that method to preserve items like the heads of wild turkeys, to mount on hunting trophies. Seems like it might be worth a try on a crunchy-shelled fish?
That pleco is impressive as hell, but...I've lost a couple of plecos over the years when they went unnoticed while I was removing a piece of driftwood temporarily to do some maintenance in the tank. The plecos dropped off and died on the floor, to be discovered only when I picked up the wood later in the day to return it to the tank. Frankly, they looked about as good as or better than that supposedly-taxidermied specimen!
I actually toyed with the idea of spraying one with varathane and just putting it on the shelf, but common sense prevailed. Hard tough shell notwithstanding...it's still a dead fish, with plenty of soft tissue inside to rot, stink, attract ants, etc. No thanks.
If I ever find myself in possession of a recently-deceased large pleco, I am thinking of having a taxidermist freeze-dry the thing. They are using that method to preserve items like the heads of wild turkeys, to mount on hunting trophies. Seems like it might be worth a try on a crunchy-shelled fish?
You are right about this "taxidermy" being a throw back to another era for us in NAmerica. As a kid, I remember getting some dried sea horses from a natural science museum in Chicago back in the early 1970's. Same sort of vibe with these things. I was surprised to see the diversity of preserved fish on offer at the shop.
Not exactly "taxidermy", but I just leave most of my plecos outside to dry to "preserve" them- the desiccated corpses only have a faint odour, and other than being brittle, tend to keep/store well.
One of the more interesting fishes to desiccate- the body proportions do not get distorted, due to the bony plates, and the odontodes on the males are quite noticeable and impressive.
I have a bunch of plecos, along with other miscellaneous fishes, frozen in my freezer, too, so that one day I might be able to acquire enough formalin to thaw and preserve them all.
One of the more interesting fishes to desiccate- the body proportions do not get distorted, due to the bony plates, and the odontodes on the males are quite noticeable and impressive.
I have a bunch of plecos, along with other miscellaneous fishes, frozen in my freezer, too, so that one day I might be able to acquire enough formalin to thaw and preserve them all.