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Hi pals, here you have some photographs of an ancistrus from a partner. Can you told me which is? I can´t identify it. Could you help me? Thanks in advance.

Looks like
the Piebald Bristlenose

Yes, it looks similar...

It has been selled like "Red/black Ancistrus" in a LFS, it comes from Czech Rep. for more information.

Without a doubt it's a piebald ancistrus, so Dave's suggestion of is almost certainly the correct one, unless the Czech have found another specie that will create this sort of genetic disorder. It's a mix between albino and not... But most likely, it's the same specie as sp(2).

Also, the fact that it comes from the Czech republic means that it's been captive bred, it's certainly not a wild-caught specie... There's no reason to import wild fish to the Czech republic to resell them to the rest of europe, much better to import directly to the country where the are destined for - or at least one very near. Saves on the risky re-transport that you'd need in case of further distances.


[Origin of the sp(2) fish is somewhat unclear, hence it's not got a defined sepcie. I would be quite surprised if it doesn't turn out to be the same specie as sp(3) [1]. But again, sp(3) is unidentified as which exact specie it is - the common bristlenose may even be several different species that look the same - not necessarily hybridized, but just simply that there are more than one specie that looks very similar. Among the 70 or so species of Ancistrus, there are certainly more than one specie that are brown with lighter spots...]

[1] Obviously, if sp(3) is not one single specie, then sp(2) would be ONE OF the species that make up sp(3).

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Mats