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What species of pleco is this? It is pure pleco or hybrid? Is it monte dourado L411 or hybrid? I have two, male and female and they got babies. I do not hope hybrids and I was suprised, that they got babies.

I have a female and a male which look identical to your pleco. I bought them as "queen arabesque (L260) but I suspect they are Monte Dourado. Not an expert though...

Thank You Your point of view. I hope also that they are monte dourados, not hybrid. Sometimes hybrids are fertile, but often they are sterile or unhealthy. Babies grow very fast and are healthy.

Hybrids of unrelated species are quite often very fest growers. Some species have a very limited gene pool, and in such cases, a hybrid would be a surprise - a fish with an unrestricted set of genes, allowing it to grow much faster, much larger and much more rapidly

I don't know if there are hybrids which look like these fish but I am almost sure they are pure species as they turn up occasionally in my local fish shops. To be honest I would be interested to know whether they are queen arabesque or monte dourado but I would probably need to see both species together to spot the differences.

Thanks Bas and Pez . Bas, it would be truth. Hybrid have heterosis and they use it with domestic animal breeding. The animals (and plants) grow faster, because they have many genes heterozygote (not homotsygote).

It is nice to hear that this plecos You have and in shop. It is big risk that they are pure plecos.

My plecos seem very dark in dark light. In this photo they seem lighter than they are. Dark/black colours are more stronger than L066 which I have many. This pleco is also stronger front part of body than L066 (quite similar than L333). Tail is different than L066. Sripes are narrower than L066.

Looks like to me. How big are they? L411 tends to grow somewhat larger than . Crossbreeds between these two types do occur, but there are still quite a few pure L411 around. It was well spread in the hobby for a while, but new wild stock won't be coming in anytime soon so it's well worth taking good care of the pure strains we have.

Haakon

Thank You for Your opinion . I think also that it is L411 more likely than L260. Plecos are about 12 cm long. I think that they are little shorter than L66.

Here is little more photos. They are not so high quality, but the color of fish is more natural. Here is one fry also.
http://aqua-web.fi/forum/viewtopic.php? ... 9#p7229921