Today in crazy invasive pleco… science, we have the extremely fascinating description of the common pleco traversing the dry lands it has invaded in search of the next body of water to disturb…
Reffling.
I’m trying to form a sentence here… but anyhow, science:
…Because plecos have that armor, they can’t move like a more flexible species, say a walking catfish or a snakehead. To move, they fling their tail more sharply to one side than the other….
…For small plecos, the tail never touches the ground. For larger plecos, it appears the lowest portion of the tail slides across the ground. After the tail flings forward on one side of the body, it moves more slowly and with not as much amplitude toward the other side, as the mouth touches the ground. At the same time, the catfish’s pectoral and pelvic fins on that side of the body protract while in contact with the ground, rotating the body forward around the mouth, before the tail flings back to the other side as the mouth lifts up…
I’m trying to picture this reffling and… I don’t know. I feel like I’ve seen it and have described it to people before. It sounds like the drifting they do through the water only messier.
Fun fact: Plecos can survive out of water for up to 20 hours, and their armor reduces water loss. A dropped fish – whether by bird or human – has time to reach a new waterway. For a species already invasive, that should be considered as a potential means of spreading.
The article has a lot of interesting discussion not just on pleco movement but also the possible role of birds in plecos relocating. 100% worth the read, also has cool vids of the reffling.
Article source | image source
Special thanks to pleco facebook!