It was back in the 1980ies that a brick-red sport of whiptail catfish appeared in the former GDR. The real origin of the fish stays a mystery, but it was possible to cross it with Hemiloricaria (formerly Rineloricaria) lanceolata. The strains that exist nowadays are most probably all hybrids. The initial red whiptail catfish belonged most probably to another species than H. lanceolata (see Evers & Seidel, Wels-Atlas, Vol. 1: 694, for details).
In November 2015 we obtained an importation of wild collected H. lanceolata from Paraguay. It contained a single brick-red male specimen. This animal – along with some regulary coloured females – was given to our proofed breeder Kurt Jülich who succeeded in breeding them! Now we can offer for the very first time brick-red whiptail catfish from that new strain.
For our customers: the fish have code 288524 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text: Frank Schäfer, Photos: Dirk Stojek & Frank Schäfer
