Blonde Bulldog Pleco

About

A rubbernose pleco from the Colombian piedmont, Chaetostoma cf thomsoni originates from fast-moving hill streams in the upper río Meta and río Guaviare drainages of Meta and Casanare departments in eastern Colombia. It travels under a confusing tangle of trade names, blonde bulldog pleco, striped rubber pleco, widemouth pleco, and several others, and is frequently mislabeled in the hobby, but it remains the genus's most commonly available representative. Experts can separate it from close relatives by the enlarged second unbranched anal-fin ray, which bears two fleshy ridges running toward the caudal-fin base in fully developed fish. It's a small, flattened loricariid with the characteristic sucking disc mouth that lets it anchor to smooth rocks in swift current, and its natural habitat should guide the aquarium setup: good flow, well-oxygenated water, and plenty of smooth hardscape work well. Herbivorous by nature, it grazes biofilm and algae but appreciates supplemental vegetable-based foods. It can be territorial toward other similarly shaped fish, so tankmates are best chosen from peaceful open-water species like characins or cyprinids, with thoughtful aquascaping to break sightlines if multiple bottom-dwellers are kept. Breeding in captivity is rare, though eggs have been reported in cave-type structures, guarded by the male.