Royal panaque

The royal pleco, traded as L190, reaches 430 mm standard length and is one of the few large loricariids a home aquarist can reasonably keep for decades. It was described from the Guarico River at Calabozo in the Apure drainage of Venezuela, and the genus ranges through the Orinoco and the southern tributaries of the middle and lower Amazon. Panaque is identified by its teeth, which are spoon-shaped and noticeably wider at the tip than at the base, and by the absence of a buccal papilla inside the mouth. Fish arrive in the trade at all sizes and in several colour forms, with eyes running from bright orange to dull red, and the forms sold as L027 come from the Tocantins, Xingu and Tapajos rather than from Venezuela.

Bogwood is not decoration for this species. It is the preferred hiding place and, by the reports its catalogue entry records, part of the diet as well. Around the wood, feed the classic pleco menu of greens: most vegetables are accepted after acclimation, tinned peas are a particular favourite, and prepared foods fill the gaps. Keep the water between 22 and 30 °C at pH 6.5 to 7.5, and expect a large adult to rearrange the tank, so anchor any rock that could topple.

Temperament is easy to misread. A royal pleco is territorial towards its own kind and towards catfish of similar size, yet peaceful with smaller fish, and it is secretive enough that a tank of active midwater fish gives you something to watch while it hides. It can also be a fussy feeder, so settle it in and get it eating before introducing large boisterous tankmates. Breeding is essentially undocumented. No published account exists, though captive spawning has been reported from a very large tank using a tube, a two-week false dry season of low warm still water, and a top-off with cooler rainwater afterwards. Sexing is undocumented too.