Taxonomy
Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Loricarioidei
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Genus: Leporacanthicus
Species: Leporacanthicus heterodon, Isbrücker, & Nijssen, 1989
Description
As probably one of the smallest Leporacanthicus species, heterodon only grows up to 20 cm maximum. Mostly they stay around 5 cm smaller. L. heterodon has a flat body shape and a long, pointy head. Typical for its genus, it has the two vampire - like teeth, which gives it the name vampire pleco. Even though, males can show odontodes from the head till back to the tail, their overall body is covered in a slimy muccus, which makes it sometimes difficult to catch this species.
Its overall body coloration can differ from golden-beige, brown to brown-grey. On top of it there are black spots all over the body and fins.
This species is often reffered as L172 or L172b, which is wrong and describes a species of the genus Ancistrini. Other than that it is also called golden vampire pleco.
Distribution and habitat
Leporacanthicus heterodon is endemic to the Rio Xingu in Brazil. There it inhabits fast streaming, rocky biotopes with warm water and a lot of oxygen. Water temperatures of over 30 °C can be measured.
Diet
This species is carnivorous and feeds in nature mostly from snails, crustaceans and other invertebrates. With their pointy teeth, they can crack open stone- and wooden crevices or even the shells of snails and mussels.
In captivity L. heterodon is not picky. Their main diet should be protein based. Live, frozen and dry food are all accepted by this species.
We prefer to feed Futterdose Snail soft granulete and EBO Mussel soft granulate.
Aquarium
Since this species doesn't grow very large, it doesn't need much space. Tanks starting with 100 cm length are ideal for a group of 3 - 4 specimens. Males are aggressive towards each other and therfore need enough hiding spaces, like stones, wood and breeding caves. A good filtration, a strong streaming pump and a air stone are necessary to keep them healthy. Light is not necessary, since they are mostly active during night or while feeding. As a substrate everything from sand to gravel can be used.
The water should be warm, with around 27 - 30 °C. Weekly waterchanges of 50 - 80 % are very welcomed by Leporacanthicus heterodon. Since this species comes from the Rio Xingu, slightly acidic and soft water is ideal for them. This can be reached with osmosis- or peat water. Also catappa leaves or alder cones do good work.
Leporacanthicus heterodon can be kept in species only, or in community tanks. Since Leporacanthicus can be aggressive, it should be taken care not to put them together with to sensitive fish, that can be damaged by the pointy teeth of L. heterodon.
Sex difference
Sexing Leporacanthicus heterodon is in general not so difficult.
From the side you can see, that the male tends to be a bit flatter and longer. The female seems to be higher, especially if she is full with eggs. A slight difference in coloration can also be noticed. As in most Leporacanthicus males tend to be a bit more contrasty and show therefore a more gold-brown ground coloration, where as females show a bit more greyish colors.
Normally the head reveals a lot about, which sex a certain Leporacanthicus specimen has. In the case of L. heterodon, this is a bit different. Male and female share the long and pointy head, which doesn't make it an sexing indicator.
Odontodes are to be found on both sexes. Males tend to have a bit longer ones on the gills and are also more spiky on the side of the snout.
The odontodes on the pectorals are in general a good indicator. Males show them longer with more pronounced hooks on the ends than females.
Also on the tail, males tend to be more spiky than females.
From top, also with this species, sexing is the easiest. Females have a broader body with more curves and tend to be not as stretched as males. Males show quite long pectoral fins.
If you take a look at the heads from above, the only really outstanding differences are the broader gap between the eyes of the female and the, in general, more spiky borders of the males head.
As it seems to be typical for Leporacanthicus, also heterodon females show yellow dots around the genital papilla, when looked from underneath. Other than that both sexes share quite a similar papilla shape.
Reproduction and breeding
Like any other pleco, also Leporacanthicus heterodon spawns in caves. The eggs and larvae are protected and cleaned by the father.
Soon I want to write a breeding report about my experiences with breeding this species.
Literature
Isbrücker, I.J.H., & Nijssen H. (1989).
Diagnose dreier neuer Harnischwelsgattungen mit fünf neuen Arten aus Brasilien (Pisces, Siluriformes, Loricariidae).
Die Aquarien- und Terrarienzeitschrift (DATZ), 42 (9): 541 - 547
