Whiptail ID

[Clarkie]

Hi all

I purchased these yesterday and they were advertised as red whiptails. As you can see they are not red as I have a red. They were a lot darker yesterday as the shop had them on really dark gravel. Trying to get a shot of there mouth as the only other whiptail I can compare them with with pics is a Crying whiptail very similar in colour. Thought I would grab them anyway as I have never seen any like this locally. Hope someone can help.

Cheers

[bekateen]

Hi Clarkie,
Welcome to Planetcatfish!

Red Lizard whiptails (L010a) do change color dramatically from an almost pure orange-red to an almost brownish camouflage (like your fish), depending on mood and on different substrates or under changing light conditions. Also, the genetic quality of the parents has a big impact on how red the fish are.

I agree your fish doesn't look red. Wait longer to let it settle. If you have a pale colored sand, try changing the substrate, and reduce the lighting.

If the color doesn't change, you might have a low quality L010a, or maybe different species like

Rineloricaria lanceolata

or

Rineloricaria heteroptera

(although the latter is not a common export from Brazil).

Cheers, Eric

[Clarkie]

Thanks for the reply Eric

They were almost black when I got them. The substrate in the shop was that really dark ADA Amazonia soil.

Will see how they look over the next few days and will try and get a picture of the mouth

[Clarkie]

Some updated pics. Nearly two weeks later. Looks like there getting there and the one on the gravel was with the flash on so it enhances it a bit more.

[Clarkie]

Here is a better pic of one I got today and the one I got eleven days ago.

[bekateen]

Now that looks like an L010a.

Cheers, Eric

[Karsten S.]

Hi,
to me it looks rather like a hybrid (likely with R. lanceolata, possibly also other species), this species is quite commonly crossed with the red whiptails as the females of R. lanceolata lay significantly more eggs, juveniles are very often nevertheless quite red but darken with age.

[bekateen]

Hi,
to me it looks rather like a hybrid (likely with R. lanceolata, possibly also other species), this species is quite commonly crossed with the red whiptails as the females of R. lanceolata lay significantly more eggs, juveniles are very often nevertheless quite red but darken with age.

Hi Karsten,

Thanks for stating this explicitly. It's my understanding that all, or nearly all, red lizards available commercially are already a hybrid, likely with R. lanceolata. I can't validate that it's true, but all red lizards I've ever seen change to some shade of brown on the right background color.

That's why I referred to the genetic quality of the parents in post earlier in this thread.

Cheers, Eric

[Clarkie]

Hi Karsten and Eric

Thank you for the replies.

This is probably the best one at the moment and some of the others aren't to far behind. Big difference from when I first got them

Cheers