• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

L173 (var of L46)

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
L173: a new acquisition, now keeping in a small q-tank :)

l46var3_196.jpg


l46var1_551.jpg


l46var4_621.jpg
 

Zapisto

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
272
Location
Montreal, QC, CANADA
hmm
your fish do not look like the L173 i already see.
i am asking myself if exporter dont call them L173 to pass the border and in fact sell l046.

anyway i am getting 40 of them next week, will what they look like this time.
hopefully i will get the same fish as you pics and i will be really happy :)
because for me your fish is L046 and not L173
 

Rolo

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
415
Location
Bremen, Germany
Hi Blueblue,

blueblue said:
"L173 is an L46 var." :)

No it's not... ;-)

According to Andre Werner, L173 is an own species, who look like H. zebra with different pattern (like on your picture), when they are juvenile. That's the reason, why for a long time was thought, that L173 is a variant of H. zebra.
But last year, there were species imported, that likely are L173. But they are NOT same species than L46. They become bigger and look different, when they are older.

So, the fish on your pictures is H. zebra (with different pattern) but NOT L173. (Sometimes the pattern gets normal again, when they become older... sometimes not)

best regards,
Rolo

(P.S. I have no answer to the other topic from Andre yet)
 

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
Zapisto said:
hmm
your fish do not look like the L173 i already see.
i am asking myself if exporter dont call them L173 to pass the border and in fact sell l046.

anyway i am getting 40 of them next week, will what they look like this time.
hopefully i will get the same fish as you pics and i will be really happy :)
because for me your fish is L046 and not L173

Hi Zapisto :) Thanks for the comment and please share with us more about the L173 you've acquired :)
 

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
Thanks so much Rolo for all the comments and your help.
In face, my initial plan was to acquire a zebra pleco with different
line pattern... i actually expected to buy a zebra instead of another
distinct species; before i asked here, my concept was:
L46 = L98 = L173 and they only differed by the line patterns (i was
probably wrong now...) :)

Additional questions:
1. This specimen's eyes (colour) and tail pattern are different from the regular L46. Its body is also more armored. Would it be a hybrid, with, e.g.,
L199?
2. This specimen, according to the local vendor, came from Germany and was
exported as "Wavy zebra pleco"... Any news about this kind of wavy zebra from germany? Are the just L46 with a bit wavy line pattern?


Rolo said:
Hi Blueblue,



No it's not... ;-)

According to Andre Werner, L173 is an own species, who look like H. zebra with different pattern (like on your picture), when they are juvenile. That's the reason, why for a long time was thought, that L173 is a variant of H. zebra.
But last year, there were species imported, that likely are L173. But they are NOT same species than L46. They become bigger and look different, when they are older.

So, the fish on your pictures is H. zebra (with different pattern) but NOT L173. (Sometimes the pattern gets normal again, when they become older... sometimes not)

best regards,
Rolo

(P.S. I have no answer to the other topic from Andre yet)
 

Rolo

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
415
Location
Bremen, Germany
blueblue said:
before i asked here, my concept was:
L46 = L98 = L173 and they only differed by the line patterns (i was
probably wrong now...) :)
Yes, until the new information last year, this was "correct". ;-)
But L98 is still just a H. zebra morph with "wrong" pattern.

blueblue said:
1. This specimen's eyes (colour) and tail pattern are different from the regular L46. Its body is also more armored. Would it be a hybrid, with, e.g.,
L199?
You're right. I have overlooked that the tail pattern is different. That makes me wonder, too, if they are really H. zebra. Maybe, it is something different than H. zebra. I wouldn't say, they are hybrids (even if it is absolutely possible), but maybe another similar species, e.g. the highly variable L399/L400 with "special" line pattern, similar to L46.

How big are they? Maybe, you have to wait and see, what they are look like, when they become a bit bigger.

..but maybe, the waveline-L46 can have this tail pattern, too? I don't know.

blueblue said:
2. This specimen, according to the local vendor, came from Germany and was
exported as "Wavy zebra pleco"... Any news about this kind of wavy zebra from germany? Are the just L46 with a bit wavy line pattern?
I do not know anything abeout these "german wavy zebra pleco". I'm sorry.
 

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
Thanks Rolo :)

1. For L98, is there any F1 of the first three specimens collected years ago?

2. My waveline zebra is 6cm long... should be a young adult already...
in addition to the tail pattern, its brown eyes have also deeply puzzled me... :)
 

Rolo

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
415
Location
Bremen, Germany
blueblue said:
1. For L98, is there any F1 of the first three specimens collected years ago?
As far as I know, there is just one male L98 at Transfish, Germany.
This male produced children with normal L46, but all F1 looks like L46.

blueblue said:
2. My waveline zebra is 6cm long... should be a young adult already...
in addition to the tail pattern, its brown eyes have also deeply puzzled me...

I will try to find out more about your fish. I'll send the pictures to some people...

best regards,
Rolo
 

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
Thanks much Rolo :)


Rolo said:
As far as I know, there is just one male L98 at Transfish, Germany.
This male produced children with normal L46, but all F1 looks like L46.



I will try to find out more about your fish. I'll send the pictures to some people...

best regards,
Rolo
 

Rolo

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
415
Location
Bremen, Germany
Rolo said:
No it's not... ;-)

According to Andre Werner, L173 is an own species, who look like H. zebra with different pattern (like on your picture), when they are juvenile. That's the reason, why for a long time was thought, that L173 is a variant of H. zebra.
But last year, there were species imported, that likely are L173. But they are NOT same species than L46. They become bigger and look different, when they are older.

So, I have an answer now... Ingo didn't answer yet, so I asked André, too.

According to André Werner (who gives the L-Codes to the catfishes), your fish is the "real" Hypancistrus sp. (L173), as I described above. No variant of H. zebra, but a different, undescribed species. (The same as the fish on the picture, I sent to you, Blueblue... just younger.)
Now it's more obvious, why the L173 erroneously was called a H.zebra variant for a long time. ;) But, as I told, adult L173 do NOT look like H. zebra anymore. They look even more similar to L333/L399/L400.

best regards,
Rolo
 

blueblue

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,876
Location
Hong Kong
Rolo said:
So, I have an answer now... Ingo didn't answer yet, so I asked André, too.

According to André Werner (who gives the L-Codes to the catfishes), your fish is the "real" Hypancistrus sp. (L173), as I described above. No variant of H. zebra, but a different, undescribed species. (The same as the fish on the picture, I sent to you, Blueblue... just younger.)
Now it's more obvious, why the L173 erroneously was called a H.zebra variant for a long time. ;) But, as I told, adult L173 do NOT look like H. zebra anymore. They look even more similar to L333/L399/L400.

best regards,
Rolo

Thanks Rolo :)
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,956
Messages
116,547
Members
13,060
Latest member
cesarmora1

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top