The small, well-marked remaining Hypancistrus debilittera from the Rio Bita (a tributary of the Rio Meta, Colombia, drainage of the Orinoco) has enjoyed great popularity for years. Already with 7 cm in length the males become sexually active, the maximum length is given with about 12 cm. We regularly import this species.
Recently we received a "Hypancistrus sp." from Colombia, unfortunately without concrete information about the locality. The animals measure 6 to 8 cm. In this import were specimens that can easily be attributed to H. debilittera , but also completely spotted animals - and every transition imaginable! All photos in this article were made from specimens of this import.
Therefore, we have decided to list these fish as the L129 variant. No doubt: if all the animals had been spotted, we would have seen a new L number behind them. But this is not possible, because if we receive an order for only a few copies and the customer only receives "normal" L129, we become untrustworthy. Nevertheless, it is an exciting phenomenon. Will the Hypancistrus of the Orinoco Basin hybridize as happily as their Rio Xingu cousins, for example, were able to?
Much remains to be explored about these catfish, which have only been known to science through the aquarium hobby. For this, however, wild catches are needed again and again, in order to be able to judge the natural variation. It shows again: Serious aquarium keeping is a joyful science, without which the thorough research of biodiversity (species diversity) in small fish is not possible. Research on biodiversity, for its part, is the essential prerequisite for the conservation of species. And so trade - also and especially with wild captures - is pure species protection. Species are never threatened by this.