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I have been looking to find a definitive answer to this question and I saw this question actually posed on the forum about 4 years ago, but it never got a reply. This may seem an elementary question, but the answer is important in order not to hybridize or add to whatever hybridizations are already out there.

So, is the commonly found L144 just a color morph of the common BN or a separate species? The info I'm finding seems to indicate perhaps both.

This is what I've gleaned from my research: There was a single L144 that was distinct enough to be assigned an "L" number. That was bred to brown females, species unknown, to produce the L144 and this was considered to be separate from the common BN. Evidently they are fairly rare and if they are still out there are just in Europe. Then there was a color morph of the common BN that was the same color as the L144 and both these and the original L144 are known by that same "L" number. If you live in the U.S. or Australia, the color morph of the common BN is probably what you have. Visually you can't tell the two apart or if you can the difference is slight and never explained.

I do not want to hybridize. I have one L144. She was one of my first purchases and I did not know at the time how hard they are to get in my area. None of the LFS can get them other than by chance; I've asked. Obviously if I can get more I will, but if I can't, would it acceptable to let her spawn with a common BN and breed back an offspring in much the same way the original L144 was produced? Since I am in the U.S., the one I have should be just a different color of the common BN, but there is this uncomfortable feeling of "what if it's a hybrid" especially as the LFS is interested in the extra fry.

I would feel a lot more comfortable if the experts here would express their opinions on this.

Regards
Amberdawn

Short answer:
Yes - both.

Medium answer:
L144 in Europe is (supposedly) a different species to the common variant, bred from a single male imported from Argentina (I think - check the L144 species entry in the Cat-eLog) and normal females of the same species.

In the US and other areas, very few if any genuine L144 were ever imported. Instead, a form of the common with black eyes and otherwise no dark pigmentation was produced, and is the one commonly distributed nowadays as L144.

For more details search the forum for posts on L144 and author Shane.

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Mats

Hi,

just a little addition to Mats:
in the meantime, also in Europe "L 144" is the bred variant of the common bristlenose. The real thing is virtually not available any more.
So in essence: no matter where you are, it is extremely likely that any L 144 you are offered is in fact a bred variant of the common bristlenose and has nothing to do with the real L 144.

Cheers, Sandor

Hi
Just found an old post where it stated the real L144 was more of a yellowish/greyish and the color morph of the common is yellow orange. I certainly don't have enough knowledge to know if that's true or not, but it does fit with mine in the US, which should be a morph of the common, is definitely a vivid yellow orange.
Regards
Amberdawn