The genus Aphanotorulus contains only two species, following some scientists: A. ammophilus from the Orinoco basin and A. unicolor from the complete upper Amazon basin. However, aquarists are by far more splitting in this respect and distinguish at least four different species, among them A. frankei from Peru. We now received a shipment Aphanotorulus from the Madre de Dios basin in Bolivia, which are very similar to A. frankei.
Astonishingly the sexes can be distinguished at a very small size already, eg 3-5 cm total length. Leopard-Plecos – this is the common name for Aphanotorulus – become usually around 15 -20 cm long and live on sand bottom. Possibly our recently imported species stays small?
For our customers: the fish have code 206161 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
