# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Catfishes >  Hypancistrus sp. L173 update

## Gecko

Recently there have been shipments of Hypancistrus sp. (lower xingu) or L399/400 labeled as L173. They are beautiful and newly discovered Hypancistrus, but not the rarer L173.

Thought I post an update here for reference.

This is a male TL 4" L173. He is much broader, stockier and higher in profile than a L46. This big alpha has never lost a cave fight, he took out 2 x 3.5" zebra males and probably a few smaller ones before  :Knockout: 


Same fish, was told that the tail was also key to id.


This fish was never conclusively id as L173 although she resembles the fish posted in Datz and Aqualog as L173. She was imported as L98. Hence I consider her most likely a L173 (or at least a nice L46). She is big for a zebra...TL 3.7" and hairy too. If not for the fact that she has never bothered to own or occupy a cave, I would have thought it is a male. The rounded profile from the top also suggests that she is female.


I have paired them and hoping they will get going :Wink:  



p.s. and Ir will know what I mean...this is truely a $200 per inch fish  :Smile:

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## CK Yeo

Nice fishes. They look like different species though.

ck

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## Gecko

I should take them from the same angles...body structure, (eyes) etc are very similar.

Maybe also why the female was id as most likely....although even same (Hypancistrus) species from the same river collected at the same time has shown very great variabilities (spell?).

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## genes

Yeah, the tail pattern is distinctive comparing to my Hypan "lower rio xingu". The L173 have the black stripes curl towards the end of the tail.

But the first 2 pictures seems to have slightly brownish eyes.

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## weiquan

love the setup. I got people offering to sell at more than 200 bucks per inch. A truely exotic and expensive hypan .sp this is.

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## Pantera

Looking good a pair, bro! Wish you success with new female companions in it :Smile:

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## Savant

Everyone's fishes are spawning... how are these guys?

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## Hongjinbao

> This fish was never conclusively id as L173 although she resembles the fish posted in Datz and Aqualog as L173. She was imported as L98. Hence I consider her most likely a L173 (or at least a nice L46). She is big for a zebra...TL 3.7" and hairy too. If not for the fact that she has never bothered to own or occupy a cave, I would have thought it is a male. The rounded profile from the top also suggests that she is female.


Ever encountered female zebra occupying a cave?

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## Savant

Yups they (female zebras) do that...

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## Edmundo

Phew, because my recent purchase all hide in cave since they are too young to be sex accurately.  :Smile:

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## drakeho

Some of my females of bigger size than the males in the tank stays in the caves all the time . The smaller males got no choice but to camp in the open . Size different of fishes among the group matters too .

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## celticfish

drakeho, you talking about your L134, right?
They are talking about L046...  :Grin:

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## drakeho

Hahaha . Not the same ?  :Grin:  My zebra tank only 2 males in caves out of the 8 caves I have provide for the group . The rest all run around playing hide and seek inrregardless of sexes . No fix area . Onces a while a female or male will camp abit at those 'non-prime' caves but will not last for long .

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## eeeeemo

all my females stay out of caves!
except for one unsexable dude. IT displays behaviours of both male and female as well.. zz.

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## Gecko

This pair is already with titan...

Males (big matured ones especially) will almost always claim a cave. And unless fighting for prime (r?) real estate, would not move or change...for a long long time.

Females sometimes hide in caves but if given many other hiding spaces, will go around without bothering to defend a territory...sometimes females get violent too trapping another younger female but this is rare.

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## Savant

This is probably irrelevant to this thread... but I have recently removed more of the furniture in my 3ft setup to create more open spaces... resulting in the zebras coming out into the open more... I have about 4-5 adult fishes that occupy caves (they all have their own spot) and 2-3 others that roam about... of the 5 that stay in caves only 2 of them look male (hairy, and shovel head shaped), the other 3 look female...

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## Cup

The female looks like an L-46, but they are still tentatively considered the same species, so hybridization should not be worried about.

Beautiful stuff as always.


Also, is that a lamontichthys I see? Singapore gets the best fish :[.

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## blueblue

Hi Gecko: Good to see your beautiful fish. My observation tells me that you have got two different species, the female is a beautiful L46 with an interesting wavy pattern. The male is another species which is known as L173, you could observe their color pattern, body height, size and most importantly, the EYES... i have also got this kind of L173 and they never have any interest to mix with L46... moreover, the larger they grow, the darker they become (this is different from L46).

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## celticfish

Hey blueblue!
Long time no hear.
How's your L046 colony doing?

I see you have a new project!  :Grin: 
Also, heard bits and pieces that L173 have landed in Hong Kong.
One of our AQ members managed to get a piece during his travel there last year.
Though he would be hard pressed to do something with just one...  :Opps: 
Interesting observation.
If you have any more to add we are all EARS for what you have to say!  :Grin:

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## blueblue

Hi friend, thanks for your kind words.
I recently has got a spawn of German tank-bred L173,
photos of the fry are attached  :Grin: 






> Hey blueblue!
> Long time no hear.
> How's your L046 colony doing?
> 
> I see you have a new project! 
> Also, heard bits and pieces that L173 have landed in Hong Kong.
> One of our AQ members managed to get a piece during his travel there last year.
> Though he would be hard pressed to do something with just one... 
> Interesting observation.
> If you have any more to add we are all EARS for what you have to say!

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## genes

What can i say... masterful breeding here once again from apistos to plecos. Great looking fries there.

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## blueblue

> What can i say... masterful breeding here once again from apistos to plecos. Great looking fries there.


Hi Friend, long time no see. 
So, how're your apistos and L173/L46 doing?
I am also interested in where you got your male L173, it's
unbelievably difficult to find now.  :Smile:  :Smile:

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## johannes

the fries look like other hypans e.g. L66... and different from zebra babies

Nice!!
 :Smile:

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## genes

> Hi Friend, long time no see. 
> So, how're your apistos and L173/L46 doing?
> I am also interested in where you got your male L173, it's
> unbelievably difficult to find now.


Yeah, very long time friend. Glad to see you back in the hobby. Your kiddo must be very big now.  :Wink: .

Those that i have are not L173 even though they were sold as L173 here previously. They were identified as some undescribed species from the lower xingu. Probably an affiliation to the L333 complex. They are in the making for their 4th brood as i speak of now.  :Smile: 

Are you still breeding apistos? I am taking a break from them and hence got involved with plecos. Breeding and raising pleco fries are so much simpler then apistogrammas.  :Laughing:

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## blueblue

> the fries look like other hypans e.g. L66... and different from zebra babies
> 
> Nice!!


Yes, it is true while they are much paler and white  :Grin:

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## blueblue

> Yeah, very long time friend. Glad to see you back in the hobby. Your kiddo must be very big now. .
> 
> Those that i have are not L173 even though they were sold as L173 here previously. They were identified as some undescribed species from the lower xingu. Probably an affiliation to the L333 complex. They are in the making for their 4th brood as i speak of now. 
> 
> Are you still breeding apistos? I am taking a break from them and hence got involved with plecos. Breeding and raising pleco fries are so much simpler then apistogrammas.


Hi Eugene, thanks for your kind words  :Smile:  and yup, my kid is now starting his playgroup study ... yes, there're many imported H. sp. "Lower Xingu" which were labelled L173/L236 in 2007, 2008... i also purchased many while they all got dark when they'd grown up... my L173 are german tank-bred fish... hope they would look better... 

P.S: Yes, i am still keeping apistos while not that committed to breeding them.
As you said, apistos need bbs while pleco need can food only!! ... Plus, i have gone much downsized with the number of tanks.

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## blueblue

update of my L173 fry  :Grin:

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## genes

Mean looking fries there!  :Well done:  Definitely not the same as those lower xingu fries i have. They have so much more white. They do look L236 to me.

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## wasabi8888

I did managed to get one L173 from HK last year. Just not sure whether it is the real L173 as it is not as white as blueblue. Maybe because i keep it with my L134 in a tank with red light... Will post a pic as soon as I can so that someone can help me identify..

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## johannes

> update of my L173 fry


Nice.... :Grin:

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## Gecko

Hi blueblue

Congrats! Any chance of seeing the parents' pics?

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