how would i tell if there hybrids?

[rethatillman]

i have a pair of L10a red lizard cats. how do i know if there hybrids or not? the female is dull to bright red male is dark red.

[bekateen]

Hi @rethatillman,

Rineloricaria sp(L010a)

is a bit of a mess to understand, and there are definitely better and worse color lineages (in terms of the intensity of red color) for sale. Also, even individuals can change appearance in terms of redness or brownness based on their substrate, lighting, food, etc.

Have you read this Shane's World article? The mysterious Red Lizard Catfish

Also, there is this information: Rineloricaria heteroptera

Although the origin of L010a is not clear, it's possible that all specimens in the hobby might be the result of a long ago hybrid event, possibly between

Rineloricaria heteroptera

and

Rineloricaria lanceolata

. Complicating this story is the fact that R. lanceolata is so widespread in South America that what we buy as R. lanceolata might be multiple species that look similar.

I guess my experience would suggest that if you bought your fish from a single source, they may look different, but it's not likely that one is a hybrid and the other isn't.

Beautiful fish, either way. Good luck with them.

Cheers, Eric