Observation On Hypancistrus seideli & L173

[TwoTankAmin]

Of L066, L236, L287, L333, L399 & L400 I have kept what were called LO66, L236 and L333. Of these I have had 236 spawn in my tanks botht e regular and super white variant. I have also kept and had both zebras and L173 bred in my tanks. All of this was well before the Hypancistrus seideli ID.

In that time I saw 100s of 236s and L173. My 236 were purchased from and spawned by Eric Bodrock from stock he acquired which originated with Aquarium Glaser. I had two groups of L173 one of which came from tank raised parent and the other were wild caught fish. I obtained both from the same source aka Unungy.

In terms of the 236 and the 173 I noticed one thing in specific about them. Every single L173 I ever saw had what I describe as gold eyes. That is around the black pupil the eye was golden. I cold see this even in the offspring at a fairly small size.

On the other hand the majority, but mot all of the L236 had golf eyes. But a number had all back eyes. So way back in the earlier years this led me to conclude (my opinion of course) that I felt that L173 was likely to iltimately become a described species. However, due to my observing that abut 15-20% of the L236 lacked the gold eye coloration that they were most likely a natural hybrid.

When I attended the catfish Convention in 2016 I brought with me 5 of the 14 L173 which came from the ofspring of my tank bred group. I did this because I was uncertain as to what the fish might actually be. I needed help from those who who be able to tell me if they were indeed L173.

I intended tp try to have these fish spawn in my tanks and then to be able to sell the offspring. So I need to be know one way or the other if they were are were not L173. In the lobby of the hotel near the entrance to the convention area I ran into Hans with whom I had spoken on several occasion at other events. I explained my situation and asked if he would be kind enough to examine my fish and to tell me that either I had real L173s or that they were something else. Ialso promised him that I if he did confirm them that I would never use this as a part of what I would do the sell them. I simply did not want to be selling my fish as something they were not.

So, that evening during the "Spree on Three" where I was doing room sales Hans dropped in. As he started to lookk into the tank I was surprised tho have Ingo also come into my room. I had also had the good fortune to meet and chat with him at prior events. These two gents spent some time lokking over the fish. I was greatly please when they confirmed that the fish were indeed L173.

This is the first time I am relating this because I no longer have either the breeder the fish became for ma nor any of their offspring, i sold all of them a in 2023 as part of the star of my downsizing and reduction of tanks and stock.

What was even more interesting to me at the time is during my chatting with Hans in the lobby that afternoon I told him that it was my feeling that L173 was a natural hybrid and would likely not be identified as a unique species. On the other hand, I felt that l173 was a unique species and likely to ultimately be identified as such.

So when I spotted the thread on H. Seideli I felt that I had not been so far off the mark in my thinking. Since L066, L236, L287, L333, L399 & L400 have been combined into a single species, I assume that it would be reasonable to consider them variants of a single species. Since L173 is not included in this group, that it is either likely to be either a discreet species on its own or else part of a group of variants of a yet to be Identified species oo and identified species to which it has not yet been included as a variant.

Unlike many on this site, I am truly just a hobbyist and not a trained nor experienced expert in much beyond those fish I have kept and worked with since I obtained my proven breeding group of H. zebra in Apr. 2006. So, I am sure I could be wrong about all of this.

I would love to hear any comments of suggestions from those with the knowledge and experience to comment on the above.

I would also like to conclude with a snippet of my early history as I was entering the hobby with my first tank in Jan. 2001. At that time I did a lot of research and reading. I looked at a lot of pictures and some vids trying to decide what fish to get for my first tanks. I made a list of rules and things I wanted or things I was sure I would never have. Two of those things I knew for certain I would never have were canister filters and those funny looking fish which stuck to things using their mouths (yes, plecos).

Two of the best decisions I made since then was to throw out those two rules. Keeping and having the B&W Hypancistrus spawn in my tanks has been one of the highlights of my 24 years of keeping fish. I no longer have most of my breeding groups except for the wild caught L173. They will also likely all be gone sometime this year or early next. I am just too old now to keep up with it all. I am just finding it very hard to let go of the wild caught L173s.

All of this was made possible from the beginning by Barbie who got me started with the zebra breeding colony and her grat advice regarding them. And then by what I have learned from all the good folks on this site who taught me what I needed to know either face to face or from posts and PMs.

I owe a great big thank you to each and every one of you.