New Frontosus

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 03 Jul 2007, 22:02

Howdy all, I hope this is the right section. Thought I would post pics of my new pick up, I am uber pleased with him, DEFINITELY my new fave fish

:D

Sorry they are in bag pics,

:D

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 05 Jul 2007, 15:02

Some more pics..

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:41

This is most likely another 'new' hybrid Syno, unfortunately....

the brand-name "frontosus" is all the fad these days; I've seen at least 3 types of different hybrid Syno's (including a decorus/multipunctatus cross) labelled "Synodontis frontosus".

there IS no such fish. it's a fake name, I'm sorry

Dave Rinaldo · Post by **Dave Rinaldo** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:52

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:55

Amazing, looks like I'm wrong

however, the ones I've seen sold as such looked completely different from this fish.

looks like you got a real Syno after all, Tom

usually I hate to be wrong, but this time, I'm actually happy about it, cause for once it's not oone of those damnable hybrids but a real fish.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 05 Jul 2007, 21:00

It happens to all of us sometime or another - I remember once I thought I was wrong, but it turned out I was right, so I was wrong!

[Sorry for the trivial post]

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 05 Jul 2007, 21:23

Nice fish Tom88.

May I ask where you got him?

Erwin · Post by **Erwin** » 12 Jul 2007, 06:12

He guys, S. frontosus is a valid species, but your fish isn't S. frontosus. Have you seen what's the distribution area of S. frontosus? The upper Nil, Lakes Albert, Rudolf, Edward, Kyoga, the Chad bassin and Uebi Shebeli. Do we get fish form there? No, we don't! So forget about that.

Your species looks very familiar to one that is frequently shipped from W-Africa. In the trade its often called S. eburneensis, a name that is treated by some authors as synonym of S. bastiani. Also S. punctifer looks similar.

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 12 Jul 2007, 11:46

You could well be right, I have a younger one also from the same source for comparison,

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 14 Jul 2007, 18:51

They look less like bastiani to me than they do punctifer, but Frontosus still seems most similar..does anyone else have any ideas on how to be certain? I suppose adult size will tell, I wouldn't mind them growing 4 or 5 inches shorter lol.

Erwin · Post by **Erwin** » 15 Jul 2007, 07:45

Why do you think S.frontosus looks most similar, because besides the drawing from Boulenger there is to my knowledge no other figure available. I don't think that the ones in the cat-eLog are S.frontosus. Where should the picture been made if this species was never imported?

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 15 Jul 2007, 22:49

Someone on another forum has a 11inch fish which looks like a frontosus from the pictures on the catelog, and neither bastiani or punctifer allegedly grow to that size...so maybe it is not such an impossibility. Either way, I would honestly prefer them to grow to 8 inches.

Post by **Dinyar** » 16 Jul 2007, 04:10

The photos of "Synodontis frontosus" in the Catelog are mine. I've had this fish since 1999. (Nice fish.) I got it from a well-known early mail-order source where it had some fanciful name like "Synodontis punctulatus Yellow Nigeria". I don't know what the correct ID is for this fish (the Catelog ID is not mine), but I tend to agree with Erwin that it's probably not "Synodontis frontosus" and probably <i>is</i> West African.

As for <i>Synodontis bastiani</i>, I think there are some differences. Among other things, the adipose fin is much bigger and the snout rises more sharply on "Synodontis frontosus".

Tom88 · Post by **Tom88** » 16 Jul 2007, 21:12

Thanks for the input, how long did yours grow?

Post by **Dinyar** » 11 Aug 2007, 03:46

Mine is about 6-7" SL. I've had it for eight years, and it is probably nine years old.

fmueller · Post by **fmueller** » 14 Aug 2007, 18:50

sidguppy wrote:the brand-name "frontosus" is all the fad these days

Considering the popularity of Frontosa (Cyphotilapia sp.) it's easy to see why this name would have considerable marketing power - regardless what kind of fish you would want to sell!

Frank