CreatureData

Common pleco

Hypostomus punctatus Valenciennes, 1840

Status not recordedbony fish

The common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus) is a species in the family Loricariidae, order Siluriformes.

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Quick facts about the common pleco

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the common pleco live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common pleco as introduced in 1 country, and flagged as invasive in it.

  1. Vietnaminvasive

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the common pleco endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the common pleco classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderSiluriformes
  5. familyLoricariidae
  6. genusHypostomus
  7. SpeciesHypostomus punctatus Valenciennes, 1840

Synonyms Plecostomus punctatus

Other names and names in other languages (7)
  • Spotted HypostomusEnglish
  • Suckermouth catfishEnglish
  • Suckermouthed catfishEnglish
  • hypostomus tečkovanýCzech
  • Vieja de AguaSpanish
  • CascudoPortuguese
  • Cascudo-espinhoso-do-sulPortuguese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the common pleco

Other species in the same genus Hypostomus.

CompareCommon pleco vs Suckermouth catfishCommon pleco vs Red fin UruguayCommon pleco vs Hypostomus ancistroidesCommon pleco vs Hypostomus derbyi

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the common pleco an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the common pleco as invasive in 1 country: Vietnam. It lists it as introduced in 1 in all.

What kind of animal is the common pleco?

The common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus) belongs to the family Loricariidae in the order Siluriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hypostomus-punctatus

MLA

“Common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hypostomus-punctatus.

BibTeX
@misc{hypostomus_punctatus_2026,
  title = {Common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hypostomus-punctatus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}