why are plecos so taboo to interbreed? i am not by any means saying/suggesting to sell openly these new hybrids or propgate them widely under false names, due to the little amount of existing knowledge of plecos in the 'wild' keep in mind that no matter how good our setups we will never completely simulate "nature". Hybridization is a socialogical phenomenon known as domestication. Here is a proposition to satisfy both sides: keep hybrid and 'true bloods' separate, both nomencalature wise and sales. This translates to responsible breeders and fish shops.Cheers!
One reason the latin-based nomenclature system was developed was to allow for the discovery of new species and the evolution (in real time) of other species. A good example is sub-naming ie : homo sapiens sapiens. how do we know (since such a small amount is known) that the "new" species that are being discovered arent divergents of the same family just differently adapted for a slightly different food niche. My point is simple, i am not suggesting breeding asian and south american plecos (for an obsurd exa). just to exploit the traits that are more appealing, by selectively breeding from one gene pool of one species is doing just as much harm as interbreeding from the same family. Highly selected 'purebreds' could lead to disese or undesirable mutation (genetic) that could in turn infect a larger gene pool. i think the fundamental argument here is very basic: be a responsible breeder by keeping good records of what you are doing no matter the desired out come to prevent random anomolylies. Scientist (true scientist) with proper equipement could determine the species regardless of the hybrid. I think the reason that there is so little 'data' is because science inclined hobbists are the ones that are carring out most of the research in this area.