User blog comment:Aandrew07/Discussion of the Week: Subspecies/@comment-1011548-20121022102312/@comment-4212769-20121023102729

Especially confusing is that Rusted Kushala Daora has a HC version. As it is in a certain time in it's skin shedding cycle it could be more aggressive than the normal but an own HC version that is different of the normal HC version (I suppose if/when Kushala has/gets one it is different than that) is just weird and stupid.

In MH it depends on materials if a monster is considered as Subspecies or not. Best example: Black Diablos is no real subspecies but because of the color change it gives different materials so it needs to be referred as something different as if you need a Diablos material and suddenly a Black Diablos appears you're doing it in vain. That's at least for Hunters and Quests a subspecies.

But it needs a different set of materials that replace the ones the normal has more or less (some can stay the same). One extra material while you still can get all the other materials does mean it isn't a subspecies. While it is surely no subspecies in 2nd gen, it depends on this if it can be considered as subspecies in Frontier. Of course the HC version doesn't count in this.

IIRC in all three Fatalis quests there is only Fatalis said to be the aim in MHFU. But still they are three different subspecies. So that doesn't matter too much I guess.

PS: I find it quite bad that people that play MH seem to forget/seems not to know that the normal Rathalos is actually a subspecies as it is part of the species "Rathalos" but all three are subspecies in this species.