LDA 25 comes from the area around Recife in far Eastern Brazil. The waters where this fish are found are fast flowing and not very warm. A species of Parotocinclus is always found in shipments of LDA 25. I noted that there was a Parotocinclus sp. in the shipment that my specimens came out of (see previous postings). Erwin believes that this species may be Parotocinclus spliosoma. Also, but more rarely, LDA 24 is found in the same shipments. Aqualog dubs LDA 24 "Hypostomus "Recife".

Yes, it has been spawned. The breeding tank's hardness was lowered to 10 DH and the temperature was 20c (68 degrees F!). After lights out, the fish stayed in small groups. The actual spawning was reported to be similar to that of Corydoras. I am not sure exactly what this means.

The next morning numerous eggs in small "packages" were spread over the entire aquarium. The eggs hatched after 10 days and the fry fed on (possibly) detritus and aufwuchs. Only a few survived to 14 days of age after which time they would take artemia.

From this description it would seem that, very likely, a good first food was not offered. I am not sure what they would need as a first food, but I am willing to experiment! I plan on getting my group good and fat over the next month and giving it a try. I would appreciate it if any of the rest of you keeping this fish would stay in touch with me and share any experiences/information with me.

Following the publication of this article, Erwin Schraml contacted me with the following.

Erwin wrote up LDA 25 for the Nov 95 issue of Das Aquarium. However, publication of the article was delayed until Mar 96. So the fish was actually out in Aqualog before it was published in Das Aquarium!

The fish, most likely, does not belong to a described genus (i.e. its morphology does not fit nicely into any described genus). It is more closely related to the subfamily Hypostominae than Hypoptopomatinae. Some articles in Germany apparently associated it with the later subfamily. The fish is found near Recife in Brazil. Recife is on the coast and so I wonder how far down river they are found (can they be found in brackish waters?).

The fish was spawned by Uwe Roemer (Aquarien-Atlas Vol. 5 pg 372). However, I do not have the book or any of the spawning details. I will pass them on when I get them. I would like to thank Mike Evans for letting us know that there are at least two varieties of this fish. Although I am not sure from the description which one I have. Maybe Mike could write up a good detailed description of the two types (please!).

As to the name. Erwin, admittingly, is not an expert on dogs. He thought that they looked like a kind of dog he had seen (a bull terrier), but could not remember the dog breeds name. He thought it might be pit bull and put that down. The Aqualog book was off to the printers by the time that he realized he had named them after the wrong dog! So the "correct" common name should be "bull terrier pleco". It just does not come across nicely in the English translation though does it? I vote that we stay with "pit bull pleco".

By the way, not only did the Aqualog come out with many fish's names spelled wrong, but Erwin's (on the inside jacket) name was also spelled wrong in the final print.