Hypancistrus sp. L66, L399, L400?

[Will]

Here is a large (10-12 cm) female Hypancistrus sp whose identity I have never been quite sure of, what do people think?

[Unungy]

Nice L66 girl.

Saul

[Will]

Ta, is this a L66 too, a slightly smaller male.

[Unungy]

Yes it is in my books.
May somebody else provide another opinion.

Saul

Edited: I wanted to include this link that will provide more information.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=29444

[Will]

Any other opinions?

[MatsP]

Any other opinions?

So what answer do you want? You've been given an answer, and no one has disagreed. In my experience, if someone suggests an incorrect answer to a ID question, there will be replies contradicting it. So I'd take that as "the answer given agrees with what others think".

--
Mats

[Will]

Given the myriad of L66 like species, and the fact that the 2 specimens in my opinion look disimilar, I wondered if anyone else agreed or disagreed!

[matti2uude]

I think the first one could be a L333 from the look of the tail fin. I was told L066 has a more forked tail like in the second pic.

[MatsP]

I think the first one could be a L333 from the look of the tail fin. I was told L066 has a more forked tail like in the second pic.

I think it's just a case of it being a bit of an angle. It's still forked.

--
Mats

[Will]

Yeah, the caudal fin is forked as in the second pic, but it seems smaller relatively when compared to the general size of the fish.

[pleco_breeder]

I haven't seen enough L399/L400 to say that it is or isn't them. However, I will say that these are not L66. At that size, their colors should have changed to a lot more even distribution. It's rare to find L66 that are that clearly marked to begin with and the older/larger ones always "fade". If I was going to place an ID, I would call them sp. Lower Xingu based on info posted by Janne in this thread http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=29055 Note that the fish posted by Unungy are exceptional, but compare yours to those pics posted by Janne. These fish are very much more narrow than the original L66 as well.

I have seen several fish listed as L66 that appear to match these more than the original L66 and am starting to think that a good portion of them are this species. I'm curious if this isn't going to be similar to the situation with the gold nugget types where there appears to be a sliding scale of color difference as the range of the genus/group extends south.

Larry

[Janne]

I would say these are L66... but on the second pic in the background... I would not be supriced if they are L333.

Janne

[Will]

You have sharp eyes Janne, they are L333's in the background!

[johannes]

The first pic could be L333 due to:
tail not so forked,
body very bulky and not as elongated as L66,
The patterning is not as network like as in L66

[Will]

I have some L333's and it isn't one of those, it is more elongated (when compared to a female L333), has a forked tail and has a white base colour rather than yellow.

[johannes]

if based on the above info, i won't label that particular fish as L333 anymore ...

[andywoolloo]

since you are looking for more opinions the first picture looks just like my king tigers L066.

But I do not begin to think i can differentiate the hypans so I rarely pipe up on the hypan discussions.