Synodontis Polli or ...

[nfrost]

My first post here and I don't know a lot about syno's, besides they do great in my mbuna tanks and are just as interesting. I am trying to lear about them but I am in need of some help.

I have 9 Synodontis that I need help identifying. The first one was purchased as Syno eurystomus (from what I and the importer understood it was a synonym for polli) from importer A and is about 15 cm and very robust and aggressive. It matches the pics on this site for polli exactly. I believe it to be polli. The next 4 were purchased online as Syno Polli but were imported by a different importer than the first. They range in size from 9-12 cm. It is a possible 2m/2f group. These had a gold sheen to them when I got them and continue to show the gold sheen. The next four were purchased from importer A again as Syno polli. I thought that they were going to be closer to the first one, but they also had a gold sheen in the buckets, but it faded when they went in the tank. These last four range from 13-14 cm. In the pics they are a little thin from being shipped.

I am having a hard time finding information on the web about these fish. I believe that first to be a full sized polli and the last four I purchased to be smaller/younger polli's possibly collected from a different location. And that smaller 4 I think might be Syno ilebrevis or small/young polli from a location that show more gold/yellow.

Currently I have the biggest polli and the last four in a tank with a group of 9 lucipinnis, while the smaller 4 gold polli are in a tank with 2 granulosus. I am just trying to get good id's on these guys so I can make sure that I have them separated correctly.

Also notice the second syno has a spit barb on her left, I thought this was very unusual.

Thanks for any/all comments.

(all fish are in order as discussed above/purchased)

[Birger]

Hi Nfrost and welcome to PC.

I have a group as well and there is quite a difference in color between the younger less dominant males and females and the older larger more dominant male and my group all came in together, it does seem like they are all getting generally darker.
Yours all seem to be polli.

You may as well join in on this thread that has been going already...it will help to keep the information on these in one spot and easier to find...unfortunately it got started in a different forum than the African forum, but you will find it will answer a few questions and give some new ones.


http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ilit=polli

Synodontis polli

Birger

[Richard B]

The split barbel is not that unusual

From what i can understand, none of your fish seem to be ilebrevis. They seem to be polli, or an undescribed polli-look-a-like. My personal belief (& perhaps that of some others) is that there are a number of very similar undescribed species circulating. Just look at the multipunctata/grandiops situation...

[Richard B]

ps - i particularly like the look of the fish in pic 4 - a real beauty with a very different body spot configuration