The history of the original bristle is sketchy at best, though it’s now widely recognised that Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus was the trade’s first, imported into hobbyist aquaria back in the roaring 1920s.

In the shallows they also avoid predation from other fishes and by hiding in vegetation avoid birds. Ancistrus occupy shallows, where algal growth is highest, as juveniles and as they grow they move ...