My Oddball L-144's

[ClayT101]

I breed L-144's for the local stores, but I keep the oddballs. I thought I would share some pics.

Black spot on head:


Large black mark on tail:


And the strangest, large black patch that goes around the whole back of the fish:

[MatsP]

It's a

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

with long fins and it's largely amelanistic with the odd melanistic spot.

Unusual it is indeed, but unless the spots are in the "right" places, I think they would count as deformities rather than beauty spots. Some forms of Koi and goldfish have all manner of spots and blotches, and the placement makes all the difference between expensive and not so expensive.

I personally think this is not something to aspire for in Catfish, but I guess it's up to each and everyone to have their own opinion on that.

--
Mats

[mona o]

I got one with a brown spot on the head in my latest batch of L144. It's a flaw, and not something one should breed later on. I gave the fish to a fellow aquarist who promised not to breed it, and keep the fish as the only Ancistrus in one of his tanks.
The fish was born with the spot on the head. Usually one can see that the spot disappears as the fish grow, but not on this one. It seems to be a permanent spot.