pleco sex

[malken]

sexing plecos

how can you determine the sex of a common pleco?

 

[wataugachicken]

i don't think you can do it with much certainty, but i looked it up - the males when full grown are smaller than females but have larger barbels. if you're trying to breed them, it seems like an almost impossible thing to do in an aquarium unless it is 200++ gallons

bristlenose plecos on the other hand are easy to sex and do well with breeding.

 

[cloud]

with bristlenoses it's easy; when old enough, the males have a bristled nose

 

[RTR]

Most mature male plecos develop oodontes during breeding season.

 

[malken]

thanks for the input

I was asking mostly for the sake of naming him appropriately. I've arbitrarily decided that it was male.

 

[TONO]

yea males have larger face and pectoral fin otdontles (sp)