L144=sp(3)?

[Lornek8]

On another forum a member who has proven to be very knowledgable stated that the current L144 in the hobby is the same fish as Ancitrus sp(3), or at least a color morph of the current sp(3). Has anyone heard this before or what are your thoughts on the matter?

[MatsP]

"REAL" L144 are not a colour variant of sp(3). However, fish found in the US most likely is a form of sp(3) - the fact that there are long-fin variants is a telling sign.

The genuine L144 male was wild-caught in Paraguay. Off-spring of this male was then crossed with other off-spring to "lock in" the genetic defect, and those were distributed within Europe. But it's unlikely that genuine L144 ever hit the US.

--
Mats

[Lornek8]

Thanks. That was the way I was understanding it. Guess it was put as eloquently so I wasn't sure if he was saying that the "original" L144 is a variant of the sp(3) or the current (at least in the US) L144 is a morph of sp(3). Thanks for clarification.

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

yes, there are two different species as Mats already wrote, in the meantime also in Europe the "real" L144 can hardly be found.
In Germany nearly all of the nice yellow BNs with dark eyes are xanthorists of A. sp(3). The color of L144 is usually kind of yellowish/greyish instead of this distinct yellow to orange.
In Switzerland it seems you can still find the "real" one.

Best regards,
Karsten