The name "Gold Nugget Pleco" is short for "Gold Nugget Plecostomus." It is a suckermouth catfish which was first captured and exported to Great Britain in 1981. Due to the abundance of stock available in the catfish category, it has become very difficult to categorize them by species. As a result, you may see a reference to the letter "L" for the family Loricariidae, followed by a number. The Gold Nugget Pleco is referred to as L018 or L-18 by most hobbyists