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Can anyone shed some light on the ID of this Hypancistrus? He's around 8-9 cm long and already has very bristly flanks. He also has a mottled/marbled underside. When he was purchased he had lighter wider markings similar to the rio_curua sp. in the cat-elog.

Thanks

Will

I would say Hypancistrus sp. L-333. Most probably the “New Alenquer” variant.

E

Maybe I'm missing something, but what makes you think this isn't just a common L260, queen arabesque?

L260 was another possibility, he has a very similar pattern to the first pic in the catalogue, though my plec's colouration is a lot darker (more brown than whitey gold). I have seen some large L260's at a local shop and he is no way as chunky as them, though they might not be L260....

Here is a pic of a different Hypancistrus bought in the same batch and also labelled as L333. It is around the same size with a white underside, are they the same sp?

they don't look at all to be the same species, to me.

I wish some of the experts would chime in here. I'm pretty good at keeping these things alive, but identifying them is definitely not my specialty.

I'm still putting my vote in for 260 for the first fish, though. And maybe 333 for the last (though aren't there supposedly a dozen+ fish that are labeled 333?)

All the alenquer hypancistrus I've had come in differ in coloration and build from the above fish. I have, however, kept individuals reportedly from Altamira and Jari, that have looked almost identical to this fish. When in doubt, just call it an L-333 and smile.

Jon wrote:All the alenquer hypancistrus I've had come in differ in coloration and build from the above fish. I have, however, kept individuals reportedly from Altamira and Jari, that have looked almost identical to this fish. When in doubt, just call it an L-333 and smile.

Jon,

of which fish are you referring? They can't both be "333," can they?

It was more of a joke than anything, aluding to the fact that these days, pretty much every hypancistrus with a stripey pattern is slapped with the label L-333 and left as such, given that it attracts a higher price or just because they look similar and there is no better way to currently describe these lookalikes. It is my assumption that there are at least a handful of different species currently listed as l-333 by exporters round the world and even in the cat-e-log, there are notable discrepancies in body structure and patterning.

Also, the former is not L-260. If nothing else, it
s just too large. Also, differences in body shape and coloration are noticeable.

As I previously stated, the first fish is not identifiable by me other than I have received similar fish listed from the already given collection points (reputedly), and the second does appear to be L-333-esque.

Jon, do you have any pics of the Alenquer L333?

They are all the same species and Hypancistrus sp "Alenquer" and Hypancistrus sp "Rio Curua" is the same species, in the beginning when these was exported they said it was from Rio Jari but that is wrong. They are very similar with L333 H. sp from Rio Xingu but they are not the same species, unfortunatly are they exported as L333 most of the time. They are very similar with the photo of L318 in Datz magazine but not in the Aqualog that shows H. sp "Monte Dourado" as L318, I believe that this species could be the true L318.

Janne

Hi Janne

Do you think my 2 Hypancistrus are the same species?

Will

Will wrote:Do you think my 2 Hypancistrus are the same species?

Yes.

Janne

looks at these sites.

http://www.baraodorio.com.br/peixes/cd/zebra.htm

http://www.baraodorio.com.br/fotos/pex_ ... 17_gif.htm

Yes and these site´s shows nice looking L66 Hypancistrus sp and not L333.

Janne