Longirostris / acanthomias

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 30 Apr 2003, 14:08

The acanthomias in Axelrod's Atlas must be wrongly identified too, but is the longirostris correctly identified? It seems to have the longer snout, which my cat has. Does longirostris mean 'long-nosed?'

Post by **Silurus** » 30 Apr 2003, 14:27

The longirostris appears to be correct in both the Axelrod Atlas and aqualog, and yes, longirostris means "long nose (or snout)".

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 01 May 2003, 18:40

That's good to hear. I have heard of synos becoming hand tame, but out of all my synos only my longirostris will take food from my hand. But what a long period of trepidation and false starts on the learning curve. It's my favourite catfish and gets special treats.

robotron · Post by **robotron** » 02 May 2003, 02:23

I have a Synodontis that was sold to me as S.Acanthomias.I don't know what species I have exactly.I do know however that this is among my favorite fish.Recently,I noticed that the fish is looking different now.The front edges of the pectoral fins have become very dark.The edges look almost black now.I am not certain,but I believe the Baensch atlas had some info regarding the id'ing of this fish.I think I recall them mentioning something about the area around the gill covers/plate?I also notice that this fish is less afraid of me than other Synodontis that I have.At one time I had the fish alone in half of a 36" tank.When offered flake food or floating glassworms,The acanthomias would swim upside down at the surface,happily munching out.Now I have the fish in a 55 gln. with 9(soon to be 15)Synodontis Nigriventis and other riverine African fishes.It doesn't bother any to the other fish.I have 3 bark tubes for the fish to hide in.The Acanthomias? stays with one of these tubes no matter how the tank is arranged.When I tap on the glass,the catfish comes out looking for a little grub.When I first purchased the fish,I kept it with a Lamprologus Congoensis that is one of the most miserable nasty cichlids I've ever kept.The Congoensis relentlessly beat the tar out of the Acanthomias.The catfish is no longer subject to that harassment.I feel bad that the cat was getting beat up for those couple of months,so now I try to make sure the fish gets extra bloodworms.Synodontis seem to have amazing recuperative abilities.At one time,the fish was pretty beaten up,but now the fish looks really nice.Thanks for putting up with my rambling on about my fish.I figure you guys understand as being fish nuts yourselves,you might force your uninterested relatives/friends to listen to similar stuff.My mom trys to not say anything about fish that might get me started for a half hour.Pictures soon,If I get the 6 more Nigriventis ,I'll have 15.I have Anubias covered branches near the surface.Pictures soon!Thanks again.Happy fishwatching!

Post by **Silurus** » 02 May 2003, 03:13

the Baensch atlas had some info regarding the id'ing of this fish.I think I recall them mentioning something about the area around the gill covers/plate?

It says essentially the same thing that the picture in Boulenger (and Poll) shows: the humeral process has a bunch of posteriorly-directed spines.

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 03 May 2003, 14:58

Hi!
Here is a description of my Synodontis Acanthomias(?). ItÂ´s now about 25 cm long, 3-4 years old. ItÂ´s brown coloured and has also some gold in the fins and stomach. Black spots are quite small ( smaller than in Planet CatfishÂ´s photo of S. Acanthomias). There are no spots at the head! Head is just brown coloured. No spots allso on stomach. It has six barbels. Fins are lighter brown and fin on the back is quite sharpe at the end, allso in the tail (with a short lash in the upper part). In tail, the upper part of the fin is longer. There are allso spots in the fins. There is no grey in this fish! And it doesnÂ´t have a long nose. ItÂ´s very lively and very curious of everything. ItÂ´s not interested on other fishes, just now trying to make itself comfortable in new home.
- Satu

Post by **Dinyar** » 03 May 2003, 15:52

Can you post a picture, Satu?

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 03 May 2003, 16:03

I donÂ´t have a digicamera, so I canÂ´t post a picture

. It really looks like S. Acanthomias without those spots on the head. Spots that cover the body are about 2 mm big (or smaller). Could it be S. Omias? My fish doesnÂ´t swim upsidedown (doesnÂ´t S. Omias swim sometimes that way?). Or maybe S. Nigrita (but it has spots on the head).
-Satu

Post by **Silurus** » 03 May 2003, 16:34

How slender is the caudal peduncle? <i>S. acanthomias</i> has a fairly slender caudal peduncle.
To put it in a nutshell, it has a fairly deep body and a slender tail.

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 03 May 2003, 17:20

Tail is quite slender and long.
-Satu

Post by **Silurus** » 08 May 2003, 22:54

Here's what the real <i>S. acanthomias</i> as illustrated in Boulenger looks like:

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 09 May 2003, 17:19

Hi!
Photo helped a lot! Caudal fin looks like the same, but my catÂ´s adipose fin is little bit taller and shorter than S.Acanthomias has. Dorsal fin is toothed. Eyes are allso much bigger and nose isnÂ´t so long. It is allso a little bit more chubber than the cat in the photo. I looked the photos of S. nigromaculatus from Cat-e-log, and it looks allso the same as my cat. Only dorsal fin is different. Could this be a hybrid? I donÂ´t know, which syno it could be.
-Satu

Post by **Silurus** » 09 May 2003, 18:17

The drawing shows a mature fish, so I would expect younger fish to have a larger eye, possibly a taller adipose fin, and maybe a shorter snout.
One way to know for sure is to let the fish grow bigger. If the humeral process becomes spiky as in the drawing, it's an acanthomias for sure.

robotron · Post by **robotron** » 10 May 2003, 19:30

If the Humeral process is on each side of the fish toward the head,mine is definitely an Acanthomias thenThere is some spiky things sticking out of the body.I have not seen this on any of my other catfishes.What is it for?Is for used like the odontodes on my Ancistrus for agression and defense.It certainly looks sharp.It also has spots on the entire body.Mine is only a small juvenile at about 5 inches now.More earthworms please!

Post by **Rusty** » 10 May 2003, 22:47

Yes Robotron, yours is a true acanthomias, since the only one left at New World Aquarium is also a real one. It looks very much like the line drawing HH posted, and does have very odd odontode type things jutting off of the humeral proccess. I'll try and get a pic soon.

Rusty

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 12 May 2003, 16:10

I think, that my cat doesnÂ´t have these spikes, or they arenÂ´t easily recognizable. When I look closely, it may have very tiny spots in the head, but IÂ´m not sure about that. It would be nice to see more photos from this fish, there arenÂ´t so much pictures from S. Acanthomias in the web.

I think, that for me the most important thing is that my cat is very calm and doesnÂ´t harass other fishes. IÂ´m starting to like it very much. It seems to be a very nice and kind fish!
-Satu

Post by **Silurus** » 12 May 2003, 16:12

I forgot to mention that the spikes are probably most developed on large adults. I guess the only thing left to do is to wait for it to grow bigger and see...

Satu · Post by **Satu** » 19 May 2003, 17:48

Yes, IÂ´ll just have to wait and see. Perhaps some day I buy a digital camera and send pictures of it. It is very curious, so itÂ´s easy to take a picture. Thanks very much for answers!
-Satu

Longirostris / acanthomias

Longirostris / acanthomias

Acanthomias/Longirostris