NEWS104
46
here does exist a fourth species,
namely
Liposarcus disjunctivus
. The
specific name “disjunctivus”means ”with a
different distribution“.While
L.multiradiatus
and
L.pardalis
are spreadoverwideareas in
South America, there are only very few
confirmed places in Peru where
L.
disjunctivus
hasbeen foundso far. Themain
difference between
L. disjunctivus
and its
congeneers is the colorationof thebelly.All
other species have a spotted belly, only
L.
disjunctivus
hasaworm-likepattern.
This couldmean that the recently imported
”Snowking“actuallybelongs to that species.
It has been collected in theMadre deDios
rivernearbyPuertoMaldonado.
So the new „Snowking Pleco“ represents
T
With four speciescurrentlydescribed,thegenus
Liposarcus
is fairlyeasy to
summarize.
L.multiradiatus
and
L.pardalis
are sometimes available in the
hobby under the catch-all name “Plecostomus”. They are relatively
unremarkably colored,growvery large (around50 cm),andare cultivated
inpondsas food fishes:
Liposarcus
means“fat flesh”.Bycontrast thespecies
L. anisitsi
is renowned as the “Snowking Pleco” because of its splendid
coloration.This species tooattains a lengthof 50-60 cm.AquariumGlaser
hasnow importedanew species fromPeru.
AnewSnowkingPleco
byFrankSchäfer
Finally...
This ventral pattern is regarded as species-
typical for
Liposarcus disjunctivus
. The photo
shows one of the specimens imported from
PuertoMaldonado.
Thephotobelow shows anadult specimen,photographedat the collecting site;abovea juvenile from the first importation.
All photos: FrankSchäfer
either a new population of
Liposarcus
disjunctivus
oranewspecies. Inanycase it is
abreathtakingbeautiful fish...
