Hawaiibassfishing Forum

i caught what looked like a algae eater that you would put in a fish tank on my crankbait i tried to put a picture up but i cant because of the type of file

Did it look kind of like this?
(Armored Catfish)
I'm sure it has several other names...
(which I will not attempt to spell)
Ken will tell us...

Stan's right. It is a species of armoured catfish (yes, I did spell "armoured" with an "U"...I am Canadian afterall )

More specifically, I'm pretty sure it is a species in the suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus) group, commonly called pleco in the aquarium trade. But I don't think it is Hypostomus plecostomus...but rather some other species in the Hypostomus genus. Maybe Hypostomus nematopterus?

Or maybe it is in another genus. Maybe Squaliforma villarsi? Or a Pterygoplichthys species?

Not too sure...don't know too much about armoured catfish indentification.

If you want to decide for yourself, go to PlanetCatfish.com and look under their Cat-eLog. They categorized catfish with a "L" number...and I have narrowed down to:

L060: Hypostomus nematopterus (close...but tail spotting in the reference picture are larger than in your picture)

L093: Squaliforma villarsi (but body spotting in the reference picture are larger than those in your picture)

L130: Hypostomus sp. (Body spotting and blotching looks right, but the tail is more forked in the reference picture than in yours)

L347: Pterygoplichthys sp (This one is pretty close too...)

Maybe post it up on PlanetCatfish and ask the experts there

thats it mine was smaller than that but fun to catch none the less about to go out this morning going to try for some catfish with chicken livers and also whateve decides to hit my crankbaits so have a good day gentalmen and if your out on the lake good fishing

happens sometimes, mostly foul hooked, but once in awhile in the mouth. my boat partners always make fun of me if i pull one in, kinda like catching a boot after exclaiming "got one"