L066 king tigers - pattern all the same?

[henward]

in the lfs saw some king tigers, patter seemed like they wre 'stressed' you know how some fish change patters.

if i put the king tigers in a black dark substrate, woudl their patter be more defined?

or is it some have good patterns, some are not as nice?

or is it pretty similar

i mean, all zebra plecos patters are pretty much the same.

cactus, salfin etc

[rcon021]

About 4/5 years ago when the king tigers first came into NZ there were a few numbers that were mixed into the batch. Most were L66 but there were L333 and others which I couldn’t identify at the time. King tigers were darker and the patters are a lot narrower, and when I had them on a light substrate they cleared up a little. The L333 were a lot nicer and the lines were a lot more defined, more of a white based fish. Try get those and they will look nice on a dark substrate.

 

Don’t quote me on this but there may have been breeding between L066  and L 333 which were sold as king tigers. Being in NZ we cannot really prevent this.

 

[flatfish]

according to Seidels L-Catfish book, "king tigers (Hypancistrus sp. L066) are a very variable species, in which individual specimens can differ slightly, not only in coloration but also in body form and the length of the fins." This seems this is the case with most Hypancistrus, even zebra plecos occasionally have squiggly lines. Until king tigers are officially scientifically described its hard to know what is a king tiger. It may be that a number of the other L-numbers are also found to be just regional variants or sports of a king tiger. For example zebra plecos include L046, L098, and L173.

Based on what I've seen some "king tigers" have clearly defined beautiful patterning and others are more blurry. The width of the pale banding also varies from very thin giving them a dark look to quite broad making them look a lot lighter. A few have a yellowish background colour, just as some chocolate zebras also have an almost white base colour. You also get the odd 'sport' with stunning patterning. Theres a lot of variability out there so just go for one that you like the look of. These three fish were all bought together as small juveniles. They may also be from the same parents.