page_title: Panaque nigrolineatus
section_title: Anatomy and appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Panaque nigrolineatus / Anatomy and appearance
caption_attribution_description: Picture of the mouth and teeth of Panaque nigrolineatus. Aquarium specimen, about 11 years old, 16 cm long. This fish has been identified as P. nigrolineatus from the Columbian/Venezuelan population by Panaque researcher Hirofumi Nonogaki.
context_page_description: Panaque nigrolineatus, the royal panaque, royal plec, or royal pleco, is an herbivorous freshwater armored catfish native to Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela where it occurs in the Orinoco and Amazon basins. It is known for being one of the few fish that digest wood. It is the type species of its genus. It grows to a length of 43.0 centimetres and is a popular aquarium fish.
context_section_description: The royal panaque is closely related to the popular plecostomus catfish kept in many aquaria as an algae eater. While the royal panaque also eats algae, it is best known among biologists as being among the very few fish capable of eating and digesting wood. It does so using symbiotic gut bacteria. Royal panaques are light grey in colour patterned with dark grey squiggles. They have red eyes and the dorsal fins are edged with cream or gold. The body is encased in heavy armour, except for the belly, which is soft. This armour is made of strong plates of skin, not scales. Royal panaques can grow to 43 centimetres (17 in) in length. Because they are heavy and inflexible, they do not swim well, but they do have a strong sucker-like mouth that enables them to hold onto rocks and wood in fast flowing waters.
caption: Mouth and teeth of Panaque nigrolineatus
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E3200", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2006:01:15 21:55:12", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.3.9", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "962", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8680", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/29", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "66", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:10:11 14:43:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:10:11 14:43:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "480", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "480", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}