Taxonomy & naming
L428 belongs to the L-number series DATZ began in 1988 for imported loricariids not yet identified. The Südamerikafans registry lists it as Hypancistrus sp. “L 428” and PlanetCatfish files it as Hypancistrus sp. (L428). The registry names no related codes or trade names; the only common name on record is Curuá zebra pleco. The bibliography has just two entries: Ingo Seidel’s article on aquarium-new armoured catfishes from the north of Brazil (part I) and a DATZ press review.
Morphology
About 4.5 in total length is the registry’s figure. No characters that identify the form are recorded, and an undescribed fish has no formal diagnosis. Zebra in the common name points to a banded pattern, though that is a label, not a measured character. For comparison the registry lists Hypancistrus sp. L270 (LDA76), L316 and a form it labels “Rio Curuá”.
Habitat
Registry data place L428 in the Rio Curuá at Alenquer, Pará, Brazil, in the Amazon drainage, with the position given more precisely as northwest of Alenquer. The water is classed as clearwater. No substrate or habitat-place details are on record. Oligancistrus sp. L391 is listed as a fish found together with it.
Feeding
L428 is classed in the registry as mainly an omnivore, and whether it eats aquarium plants is not recorded. An omnivorous Hypancistrus in aquaria is usually given sinking pellets or wafers, frozen foods and some vegetables. No wild diet has been documented, and no particular foods are named for L428, so any feeding plan rests on the omnivore class and general Hypancistrus practice.
Mating
The registry’s sexing note is a genus-level statement: males have a broader head, a slimmer waist, stronger pectoral-fin rays and more strongly developed odontodes. Hypancistrus as a rule are cave spawners, with the male guarding eggs and larvae. Nothing on courtship or spawning behaviour is recorded for L428 itself; no aquarium spawning has been documented.
Breeding
The registry records no aquarium breeding of L428. Clutch size, egg and fry development are not on record. Whether it spawns as other Hypancistrus do, in a cave guarded by the male, has not been shown for this code. Its two bibliography entries are an article introducing new armoured catfishes and a press review; neither is titled as a breeding report.
In the aquarium
Registry keeping figures are 79–86 °F with a recommended tank length of 31.5 in; no pH range is given. These are aquarium figures, not field measurements. Small groups are recommended, though a single fish is possible. Hypancistrus generally want clean, well-oxygenated water with some flow, and caves or rock for each fish. Territorial behaviour toward other plecos is common.
Conservation
L428 is Not Evaluated by the IUCN; an undescribed form cannot be assessed until it is named. The registry lists it on neither Brazil’s 2012 positive list nor its 2020 negative list. Collection for the trade and river engineering affect some L-number habitats in general, but nothing is documented about the Rio Curuá population.