The blue-eyed plec, ''Panaque cochliodon'', is a herbivorous freshwater

armored catfish Armoured catfish may refer to: *Family Loricariidae: The armoured suckermouth catfish, also known as suckermouth catfish, armoured catfish or simply 'plecs' or 'plecos' *Family Callichthyidae: armoured catfish, includes the genera **''Corydoras'', ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

where it occurs in the Cauca and Magdalena River basins. It is distinguished from many loricariids by being dark grey to black and having bright,

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...

-coloured eyes. Like other species of the genus ''

Panaque The genus ''Panaque'' contains a small number of small to medium-sized South American suckermouth armoured catfishes that are notable for being among the very few vertebrates that feed extensively on wood. In addition, algae and aufwuchs are a ...

'', ''P. cochliodon'' feeds primarily on submerged wood. Blue-eyed plecs grow to about 30 cm (11.8 inches) in length and, like other ''Panaque'' species, they are clumsy swimmers adapted to staying close the substrate, using their sucker-like mouths to hold on to submerged rocks and wood.

Blue-eye plecs as aquarium fish

Blue-eyed plecs have been kept as aquarium fish, and were fairly popular during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, they are now very rarely traded because wild fish can only be obtained from rivers in

considered to be outside the control of the Colombian government.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3755928 Ancistrini Fish of South America Freshwater fish of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Magdalena River Fishkeeping Taxa named by Franz Steindachner Fish described in 1879