ID on my catfish

catfish_mad · Post by **catfish_mad** » 22 Jan 2007, 21:20

Can someone please id my catfish as i still havent got a name.

any help would be greatful

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 22 Jan 2007, 21:31

Looks a lot like this:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?t=18630

(Seems to work. Thanks Racoll)

catfish_mad · Post by **catfish_mad** » 22 Jan 2007, 21:52

thanks, yeah he looks like that one but i cant find no information about it anywhere

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 22 Jan 2007, 22:19

Possibly a hybrid, given some of the external characteristics. If it is, information cannot really be specific until parental species are known & then only probable generalisations.

Anyone else got opinions?

Post by **Birger** » 23 Jan 2007, 03:00

I agree with the above statements

I was thinking after Oliver's earlier thread that if we wait and see if these start popping up here and there we would maybe get a better idea where they are coming from, these probably will not be the last.

catfish_mad · Post by **catfish_mad** » 23 Jan 2007, 18:39

I have had the cat for about 10 months, it was just over 1" and now its close to 5" if not 5" but he wont stay in one place long enough for a pic. I've never any other cats like one about before which is why i'm thinking about the hybrid theory now.

Anymore info would be great.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 24 Jan 2007, 16:17

hybrid or not, it's definitely a Synodontis with riverine characteristics and all that comes with it.

likely it's slightly or even quite territorial; it eats about everything, it's sturdy, extremely tough (cichlid resistant) and only ventures out in the light at feedingtimes.

hard to see wich species have been used by the making of this cat.
S acanthomias? S nigrita? S obesus? S schall? and maybe even -fdar back in the "family tree" some Tanganyikan species (multipunctatus, petricola etc) given the markings on the tail

catfish_mad · Post by **catfish_mad** » 23 Apr 2007, 20:37

Hi, i've finally got a good shot of him.

hope this one helps abit more.

Lornek8 · Post by **Lornek8** » 23 Apr 2007, 20:50

Looks like it could be a hybrid between S. multipunctatis & S. eupterus.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 24 Apr 2007, 08:45

no, I've seen plenty of those; this is more likely one of those fake granny's where they mix up nigrita and granulosus.

but we'll never know for sure until we raid their Evil Hybrid Labs and put those who create these monsters on the rack for questioning.......

now there's an idea.
if you'll excuse me i have some branding irons to heat up

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 24 Apr 2007, 14:26

Sid, this is a lot like the fish I posted earlier (now on page 2 as Syno I.D. requested).

I would say it could be a hybrid except there is a pic which looks much like it in an ancient copy of a book called the Fischer atlas, which was probably published at about the same time as Soviet tanks were rolling over what is now the Czech Republic.

It's listed as Synodontis courteti, but as I understand it, that's wrong. The closest match is the pics of Synodontis caudovittatus in ScotCat. Next time I'm in London I'll see if I borrow the book and scan the pic.

On this tenuous a basis I could be wrong; but the prevalence of hybrids could be causing us to miss authentic species.

synodont_fan · Post by **synodont_fan** » 24 Apr 2007, 16:11

Whether it's a hybrid or a legitimate species, it looks pretty good to me. I'd buy one (which I suppose is why the hybrid market continues to thrive).

Lornek8 · Post by **Lornek8** » 24 Apr 2007, 17:50

Thanks sidguppy. I can see it now. Luckily have't seen any of those come my way yet.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 25 Apr 2007, 08:17

Chrysichthys, I'm not 100% sure about the hybrid thing, that's why I used the word 'likely.'
this is a strange fish indeed.

but IF it is a hybrid I think the granulosus and the nigrita are likely somewhere in it's origins.

somehow I always expect hybrids to look more lumpy, with a steeper forehead and a dent between eyes and dorsal etc.

unfortunately they seem to get better at creating pretty ones cause when visiting local LFS's, I stumbled across certain hybrids wich lack those marks.
however most of them sold over here are still butt-ugly.

if you can get a picture of the fish can you check the country of origin too?
Africa is a mess nowadays, in a lot of places worse than 30 or 40 years ago.
if this fish only occurs in countries where they have a war going on these days, but not in the old days, you can be pretty sure it's man made.
cause nobody in his right mind is going to catch fish in a place, dodging bullets, child-soldiers, landmines and clusterbombs flying around.