The fish that cried wolf

[murakozi]

On the aquarium front, I came home from work on Wednesday and glanced into the tank as I passed it.  Down on the bottom the pleco was laying belly up in his little driftwood lair.  Fearing the worst, I knelt down and leaned in close to see if he was still breathing at all.  Upon seeing the movement, the little guy flipped upright and even flared out the lil spiny frog-sticker things on his cheeks.  I'd never seen him extend those before.  I guess he was startled.  I checked on him a few times during the afternoon and he was doing his usual stuff:  chillin under the driftwood or hanging on the glass.   A couple hours later, though, he was on his back again.  This time, a tap or two on the glass got him right side up.

Being the worrying type, I posted on a forum asking whether this was something to be concerned about.  Apparently, it's not.  Some catfish, including plecos (plecos are members of the catfish family, even if they're way cooler their cousins), just play dead sometimes for no apparent reason.  I guess that after all the effort it took to get hold of the little guy, I should be happy that I got one that does something unusual.

The drawback is that if he does die sometime, I may not realize it for a while, figuring he's just playing dead.

I wonder if I can teach him to fetch or roll over...