Hi guys, noticed the thread, thought I'd drop a line on it. I'm John, the live deliveries manager at PetSolutions. Our company has been in business for over 65 years. Thanks for the kind words. I met Neoprodigy a couple years aback at an ACA weekend in Ohio I think, super nice guy. Our buyer spoke with the importers on this topic for me this morning, and he says they ship us true hystrix but he says on occasion there may be a latticeps (and according to the poster above orbignyi apparently) mixed in.
The issue I have is, trying to get a valid, verifiable photo of hystrix, latticeps, and orbignyi. If you search hystrix looking for a photo online for confirmation...everyone calls everything hystrix. Do any of you have a valid, verifiable photo of each of those types you can point me to, or other distinguishing features to give me clear cut identification characteristice? If so, I will split them out accordingly, so I can guarantee each variety is accurate. I've been in the hobby for 28 years, and in the business for 18 years but I'll be the first to admit I'm certainly no expert on stingrays. If you have a correction, information, or suggestion, I'm all ears. All of the freshwater and brackish fish we sell are in the building where my office is (500 or so aquariums in our fish room) and I'm more than happy to put my eyes on things for you guys anytime you want to drop me an email. Looking at 2 we have in the hystrix holding area right now, and they don't look alike, so I'd say there are two different rays back there right now.