Wild Pleco in Florida

[Wet Whiskers]

My sister-in-law told me about these "large catfish looking fish" that are in large numbers in the Florida canals, which just so happened to run right behind her house. So, I knew what I was doing for the evening. I even had bought a large net for my catfish earlier that day. Sure enough, I took one look at what was in the water and saw a very large pleco. We walked 20' down the canal and must have seen 4 just sitting at the edge. So, about 20-30 minutes of almosts and lots of patience, we got him. No, I did not have a measuring tape, but the photos and measurements of my hand later, we were able to determine that he was a good 25 inches.

 

[Iffrat]

that is sweet!!! great looking fish!! looks like you have a new business selling giant pleco

 

[Wet Whiskers]

I doubt they are worth much if anything, but still extremely cool to pull out of the water.

 

[BPags52]

Wow...very cool Wish there were canals like that in north Florida...very impressive pleco.

 

[mkman]

wowzers! The picture of it in the water made it look like a leviathan!

 

[Wet Whiskers]

I couldn't believe how strong this guy was. I was trying to wrestle with him, but at the same time I didn't want to hurt him. When he thrashed his tail around I could definitely feel his strength. At least he was all rough and bristly so I had a chance at holding on to him. When I finally got a grip on him, you could hear the air rushing over his gills. It was very cool.

 

[Mr. Grumpy Gills]

it looks very healthy and well fed. Does anyone know how large these plecos get in the wild??

 

[Calborn]

that is awesome!!

 

[Wet Whiskers]

it looks very healthy and well fed. Does anyone know how large these plecos get in the wild??

Well they get to at least 25". That's all I can tell you. I actually posted on planet catfish in hopes of getting a correct ID on him. I know he's a 'common', but there really is that there are few species that are considered commons. I suspected that he was "Pterygoplichthys pardalis", but it says on Planetcatfish they only get to 14 inches, and we measured this guy to be about 25". Either I missed the ID, they've got the max length wrong, or I've got some freaking huge mits! I'll post it here once he's ID'd for sure.

 

[Lupin]

Imagine wild plecos just in your backyard.