which allows it to adhere to a surface, as well as to hold and rasp at food. This omnivorous species feeds on algae, aquatic plants, and small crustaceans. Physiology Hypostomus plecostomus is one of many species of fish that is able to breathe air. Hypostomus plecostomus relies on its gills for respiration in normal and slightly hypoxic water, and the less oxygen present in the water, the more frequently it surfaces to breathe air. The air is taken to the stomach where the oxygen is absorbed, and the air can be kept in the stomach to increase buoyancy, which may help it to feed on vegetation. In the aquarium H. plecostomus is one of a number of species commonly referred to as "plecostomus" or "common pleco" by aquarists. These fish are sold when they are young and small, but in the wild, they can grow to be a maximum size of . In captivity, however, a full-grown Hypostomus plecostomus only reaches 15 inches (38 cm) on average, which could be explained by the subpar oxygen levels in most home aquaria and other practices of bad fish husbandry. In the aquarium trade, this dark-colored, bottom-feeding, nocturnal catfish is often purchased for its ability to clean algae from fish tanks but also contributes a lot of waste to the nitrogen cycle. They are difficult for other fish to harass, both due to the semi-aggressive nature of the fish as well as its thick armor. Invasive species In Bangladesh, the species, among some other suckermouth catfishes has become invasive. The government is currently on its way to impose a ban on the farming, hatchling production, breeding, marketing and trading of the fish. It has also raised serious concern in India. Naming Common names A large variety of common names is used to describe H. plecostomus, where plecostomus and the shortened "pleco" are interchangeable in all common names. The names include: algae sucker/eater pez diablo (devil fish) pleco janitor fish municipal fish – 'ikan bandaraya' in Malay suckermouth catfish sweeper fish – 'ikan sapu sapu' in Indonesian crocodile fish (not to be confused with Papilloculiceps longiceps, which is originally known as the crocodile fish or tentacled flathead) Taxonomy The species' scientific name, Hypostomus plecostomus, is derived from the Latin hypo (meaning "under"), stoma (meaning "mouth"), and pleco (meaning "pleated"). Many of the common names used to identify Hypostomus plecostomus are also used for other