Synodontis Lucipinnis - mouth damage? Fighting?

[I Prefer Dogs]

Hi,

I have 7x tank bred syno lucipinnis, 3x tank bred syno Multi hybrids and Malawi Cichlids. The lucipinnis are now about 2.5-3" (some a little bigger), and the Multis are bigger at around 3.5-4". They have all grown up together since small.

I noticed that 1 or 2 of my syno lucipinnis have white mouths, upon closer inspection, this appeared to be damaged tissue.

I have seen them fighting every now and again, and was wondering if this was the cause, and is it anything to worry about?

It is hard for me to really get a close look as my tank is full of rocks and they tend to be rather reclusive in nature. Apart from the damage to the mouths, they seem to be behaving and eating fine.

Tank; 400L
PH; 7.5
Ammonia; 0
Nitrite; 0
Nitrate; 25ppm
Water change 220L a week of 360L usable in the tank due to displacement.
Decor; Caribsea Bahama, Ocean Rock.

Thank you for looking.

[Viktor Jarikov]

I don't think they fight with only their mouths, like cichlids lip-locking. I think you'd see damage on their body and fins for sure.

It could be a disease or they scratch up their snouts on something in the tank (substrate or furniture) or there is a remote possibility they lip-lock fight with the cichlids. Some cats do that when attacked by cichlids.

This is quite hard to do though without good photographs.

[syno321]

In my extensive experiences keeping and breeding both lucipinnis and grandiops (multipunctatus) (since 1992)I've regularly observed fighting amongst both species. This seems to be pecking order establishment among the sexes. I don't think I can recall any male on female or vice versa aggressive fighting. It can get quite aggressive, skin stripped from the area just in front of the dorsal fin (grandiops), or limited to chasing and/or some damage around the mouth(lucipinis). When I had a group of large angelicus, the fighting was quite brutal, with some of the fish sustaining extensive skin stripped from the mouth right up the dorsal surface to the dorsal fin. It actually put me off keeping the species.

[I Prefer Dogs]

I don't think they fight with only their mouths, like cichlids lip-locking. I think you'd see damage on their body and fins for sure.

It could be a disease or they scratch up their snouts on something in the tank (substrate or furniture) or there is a remote possibility they lip-lock fight with the cichlids. Some cats do that when attacked by cichlids.

This is quite hard to do though without good photographs.

Hi mate, I have 100% definitely seen them fighting with their mouths, they kind of like circle around each other and form a ball, taking aggressive pot shots at each other, connecting with the mouth, and sometimes body.

I do think it could be decor related though, there are lots of sharp edges to my ocean rock and many small holes that the catfish love to bury themselves in. Perhaps when they've been digging in to this sharp edges rock, one or two have been damaged slightly.

Unfortunately photographs aren't really possible.

In my extensive experiences keeping and breeding both lucipinnis and grandiops (multipunctatus) (since 1992)I've regularly observed fighting amongst both species. This seems to be pecking order establishment among the sexes. I don't think I can recall any male on female or vice versa aggressive fighting. It can get quite aggressive, skin stripped from the area just in front of the dorsal fin (grandiops), or limited to chasing and/or some damage around the mouth(lucipinis). When I had a group of large angelicus, the fighting was quite brutal, with some of the fish sustaining extensive skin stripped from the mouth right up the dorsal surface to the dorsal fin. It actually put me off keeping the species.

Thankfully they have no damage on the body, but yes, as mentioned above I have seen fighting and chasing. The one I saw damaged did appear to be a male as he was a bit more slender than the other fish.

[Viktor Jarikov]

In my extensive experiences keeping and breeding both lucipinnis and grandiops (multipunctatus) (since 1992)I've regularly observed fighting amongst both species. This seems to be pecking order establishment among the sexes. I don't think I can recall any male on female or vice versa aggressive fighting. It can get quite aggressive, skin stripped from the area just in front of the dorsal fin (grandiops), or limited to chasing and/or some damage around the mouth(lucipinis). When I had a group of large angelicus, the fighting was quite brutal, with some of the fish sustaining extensive skin stripped from the mouth right up the dorsal surface to the dorsal fin. It actually put me off keeping the species.

Nice! Thanks so much for explaining.

... or limited to chasing and/or some damage around the mouth(lucipinis)...

I stand corrected and more learned

@OP: it does sound like it could be the fighting then.