Help Identify Whiptail Catfish please

[donpetty, posts: 96]

This weekend I found 2 whiptail cats for sale in a Portland, Oregon LFS; thay were marked “Red Whiptail Catfish” I currently am keeping a group of L10a and know that these new whiptails are not L10a, can someone identify them for me please?
Thank you,
Don

[sunfish, posts: 280]

The L10a you get in the shop are very often hybrids between the "real" red whiptails and Hemiloricaria lanceolata. However, your whiptail doesn't look like H. lanceolata or a hybrid either.

[donpetty, posts: 96]

Hi Tina,
So any guesses?
The Shop said that they were sold to them as "Red-Whiptail" Catfish.
I always ask for common and if the person seems knowledgeable then I ask for the scientific name.
and again if the seller seems like they care; I will often ask if wholesaler has location..
Many times on that question, they look at me like I've lost my mind...
This time after contacting them again on them, they said that they asked the wholesaler
about them and was told Red-whiptail. No more available.

I think you are correct that the L10a that I have are hybrids
I read somewhere that they were from Germany?
I have been able to get the L10a to lay eggs but,
before I decided what to do with them they were gone..
They are one of my favorites aside from my Cory's.
Thank you again for your help!
Don

[sunfish, posts: 280]

Hi Don,

sorry, I'd say it's a Hemi- or Rhineloricaria, but identifying Whiptails is really not my forte.

It has been claimed that L10a was wildcaught and then bred in the GDR. But none have been caught ever since. I think this is a bred form, but based on what species I have no idea. I don't know about the US, but here pure L10a are usually from the Czech republic. L10a x H. lanceolata are really common because female H. lanceolata are bigger and produce more eggs. Plus, L10a males are said to actually prefer females of H. laceolata over L10a.

If you're buying from a non-specialist LFS it can be really hard to try and find out where the fish came from and what exactly they are. And if they have been mislabeled or accidentally swapped at the wholesales (which I suspect is what happened here) you stand no chance.

[donpetty, posts: 96]

Tina,
Yes I am thinking they are doomed to live as "whiptail" unknown in my fish room. (they know what they are)
They will be housed with my L10a and I will assume that the diets will be close
I offer both fresh vegetation along with black worms, chopped earth worms and small sheets of Raspashy
meat pie. I think I will also try and find some female H. lanceolata. The unfortunate thing about shops here is that many of them are box shops with the normal generic fishes, so i generally drive several hundred miles to Portland,Oregon or Seattle Washington, as I am in the middle distance wise of both of those places. So when I find a fish of interest, I don't have the luxury of watching it for several days before buying. I generally buy it, then quarantine it back home.
So, prior to my seeing these at the LFS, they may have had others as well.
Thank you again for all of your great information, ideas and leads.
Mucho appreciated!
Don