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hey all
need some help on the id of this fish.

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143562314/PictureID=2903067645/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185


i know its a syno,but thats all.when i bought them(i got three)they where sold as syno cats only.but i would like to know more.so i can look them up specificaly.i can not seem to find any on the net that resembels them closley enough.any help would be great
thanks

oops wrong pic.here is the pic i was trying to post

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143562314/PictureID=2903067670/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

i hope i got it right this time
thanks

Gotta say my vote goes to it being an Ocellated synodontis (synodontis occellifer), a fairly widespread african species that is seen often in the hobby. The size, finnage and patternation and colouration seems correct for the species.

There are a lot of similar catfish in the hobby though, so if you can get a close up shot of the head, particularly the barbels it would help with the ID process enormously.

From that angle, it is almost certainly a hybrid. Better pics would help.

Synodontis?

Take your pick from this lot.

There are ways of narrowing down your species from that list, but we will require a better quality photo (if your camera allows you to adjust the settings manually, try putting it on full manual mode, select 1/60 second shutter speed for flash syncing, and adjust the aperture until you achieve decent contrast with respect to the fish's markings) and some idea of any unusual features your fish may possess. For example, does your fish have a humeral process (a sort of ridge along the body that appears to act as a slot into which the pectoral fins can fit)? If so, then one candidate for the identity of your fish is Synodontis acanthomias. Likewise, if your catfish has large diameter spots instead of small ones, you could be looking at either Synodontis congicus or Synodontis decorus - if the first dorsal ray is extended beyond the fin membrane and thickened somewhat so as to resemble a piece of coaxial cable attached to the fish, then it's decorus. These are just three examples of possibilities, and in the case of a Synodontis with small to medium sized spots, then you're going to have your work cut out because there's something like 26 species that fit that billing ...

However, I can rule out Synodontis polli and Synodontis granulosus, because both of those species have very prominent white fin edgings that are lacking in your fish, and in the case of Synodontis granulosus, you would know if you bought that because it's incredibly rare and has a frightening price tag - last time I even heard of a granulosus being offered for sale here in the UK it was a £300 fish, which at current exchange rates makes it a $590 fish in the US. I suspect you haven't shelled out that much for your Syno, otherwise there would be NO doubt whatsoever what you'd bought!

Additional information that would be useful here is this: was your Syno sold alongside Rift Lake fishes when you bought it? Only that would narrow the field quite a bit. Though again, the Rift Lake Synos (of which polli I mentioned above is one) tend to be distinctive, and usually labelled as such.

By the way, if your fish turns out to have a humeral process, and is thus Synodontis acanthomias, then you're in for a shock. Planet Catfish lists that as a 20 inch fish when fully grown, and it's a serious predator compared to the more usual run of Synos. It's also capable of looking after itself in an aquarium with hardcore villains such as big Cichlids, in fact it's capable of squaring up to some Cichlids and starting a fight with a good chance of winning, so if you have a fast growing Syno with a noticeable 'ridge' about level with the pectoral fins, small body spots and abundantly feathered barbels, you could well have acanthomias, which is a bruiser among the Synos and will reach 12 inches in a frighteningly short space of time even in an aquarium that's allegedly too small for it (acanthomias will just outgrow your tank and more or less force you to buy a bigger one post haste). I would find this out as a matter of urgency, and if your Syno is in a modest sized aquarium, breathe a HUGE sigh of relief if it turns out NOT to be acanthomias!!!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thanks for the replies
i agree longhairedgit that it does look most like synodontis occellifer but mine has more spots and the head has many spots but smaller.

hey Calilasseia the pics are taken with a digital slr 8 meg cannon rebel xt with a macro.i think mabe the site i have them on lowers the quality to save room.if you know a better site that can keep the quality or another way to post them let me know.

the syno's cost me 2 dollars cnd and where the only three in the tank so i grabbed them up.usually syno's are upwards of ten dollars and more.they where 2 inches when i got them 8 months ago they are about 6 inches now .

here are some pics that i hope are better and can help id this fish

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143564407/PictureID=2903153194/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143564407/PictureID=2903153195/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143564407/PictureID=2903153197/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143564407/PictureID=2903153201/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=143564407/PictureID=2903153205/a=89683185_89683185/t_=89683185

thanks all

I was just looking into it further, looking in baensch volume 4 page 322, and the pictorial depiction of a half grown specimen is the absolute spit of yours. Colour, dots on the head, body and fins, even the barbels, everything is identical, apart from the weight. A lot of the pics on the net showing silvery specimens with no dots on the head are probably misidentifications or much older faded specimens. Sorry about the quality of the pic, but its the best i can do at short notice.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/longhairedgit/IMG_3902-1.jpg

Its not a bad match.What do you think?

The nuptual hump was fairly difficult to discern in the original pics; probably not a hybrid, but not ocellifer, either. Often sold as such, these fish actually come riverine environments around Moero, at least that's what I last heard.

Can you try to get the fish without flash?

EDIT: Just combining posts.

Given that those pics are underexposed, I'd say flash was needed.

If this is possible, set the camera to manual, then take a series of shots with flash at 1/60 sec, with apertures ranging from f2.8 fo f11 (or whatever range your camera supports) until you get one image in the set that is properly exposed. Submit that for review.

At the moment the only detail I can discern is the eye.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

why am I alone in thinking his pictures are actually pretty good, and that the only problem is perhaps the size? I can see enough detail for the id in that, no probs.

Lol, you dudes need glasses.Or to get bigger monitors.lol

Get off my lawn, sonny.

hakes fist:


Just looking for the true eye color of the fish. My ID still stands, but flash disrupts eye color a good deal. The adipose is dissimilar in shape to the well documented sail-like adipose of ocellifer, and the humeral process is slightly different, as is eye ratio, all of which are very notable mochokid IDing characeristics. Given that this is not exactly my area of speciality, I'll send a photo to one of my contacts specializing in African and Asian fishes,and I'll get back to you on it.

Get off my lawn, sonny.

OOOOoo0000ooo get you! (LGH contentedly sits stroking the grass confidantly weighing the scales of justice)

First you say definate hybrid, and then want better pics....

As far as adam is concerned fp is a dictatorship, for anyone else a democracy. Us mortals can argue it out

Taking bets now.. I shall be wearing my spock ears to improve logic.

In my defense, the original pic did make the fish look very much like a hybrid, since, as stated, adipose is radically disjointed from the unseen dorsal and the nutual hump was a bit skew

hey guys sorry about the pics.
they are great quality crisp and clear on my computer even at 400 percent zoom.you can see every detail.image quality is getting lost between my pc the internet and your pc.i don't know what else to do.
if you know a better way plz say.
i have looked on other sites for pics of synodontis occellifer and have found some that look very similar to mine and some that don't resemble it at all.if there is different variations of occellifer then mabe mine is one of them.
any thoughts.
i will try to get a close up of just the eye,and head and a full body shot.but i fear it will not be any clearer then the ones i already posted.
thanks

hey i opened a new site on photobucket.here is some pics that may show better.i hope

http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/leachim13/?action=view&current=1173981279.pbw

not sure why that did not work.lets try again.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/leachim13/_MG_3650.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/leachim13/_MG_3629.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/leachim13/_MG_3628.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/leachim13/Fish6.jpg

This picture of yours is likely to be the clincher for identification purposes, as the size and shape of the humeral process (a key identifying feature for many Synodontis) is VERY clearly displayed. An EXCELLENT shot of your fish.

I'd avoid Snapfish as a host in future, because that site seems to destroy contrast in your pictures when you upload them. The Photobucket pics you've uploaded are, by contrast (pardon the pun) beautifully rendered and show your Syno to great advantage. In fact the two pics of the Syno peeking from behind the foliage are cute!

Taking a second look at Planet Catfish's photos of synodontis ocellifer, I'm in the position of saying "might be, but might not be" because that species is woefully variable, making life a pain for those without the requisite specialist skills. However, taking a cue from the VERY noticeably triangular humeral process visible in the final photo in the sequence (the part that looks like a spear head projecting from behind the gill plate above the pectoral fin) I am tempted to make a comparison with this fsh]http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/image.php?image_id=901[/link] which is Synodontis robbianus. That photo is of an adult fish (juveniles are lighter and have more spots) so if your fish loses a fair few of its spots as it grows older, then you could have Synodontis robbianus (which tops out at 4.1 inches according to Planet Catfish, and is thus a modest sized Syno). Another possibility is Synodontis pulcher ([link=photo here) though without a decent close up of the humeral process I can't really say 'yea' or 'nay' on that one.

Either way, those latest photos of yours are excellent, highly commended, and likely to bring your Synodontis identity quest to a fairly swift resolution at the hands of someone who has more in depth knowledge. I can make an educated guess, but this is a case that will probably require a Synodontis specialist.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Confirmed ID from Heok Hee Ng is that it's ocellifer. Damnit ---best stick with plecs.