can anyone help me decipher this??

[waterspirit]

I was just wondering....

I don't want to sound stupid or anything, but I have seen mentions of this fish or another referred to as L170 or L160 or what not. What does this mean?? If it's an English price figure, I'm going to feel really stupid.

 

[OrionGirl]

Those are L-numbers for plecostomus. The fish most of us refer to as a pleco is actually a Loricariidae (spelling varies--this is what Fish Base and Planet Catfish use). There are new species/types imported frequently. Until the fish can be postively identified and named, it is given a numeric designation, preceded by the L to identify the family. Sometimes, the fish is assigned multiple L-designations, because it was imported 2-3 times with slight variations of color, size, or genders. Once the critter is ID'd, it's given a name, and usually the L# sticks with it to help hobbyists who acquired the fish prior to it's official recognition.

Plant Catfish is one of the best places to go for help with L#'s. They list the fishes both ways. http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/index.htm

HTH