Synodontis sp.

[Xeno]

Hey!
Can anyone ID this beauty?

Possible species for now:
Synodontis nigrita
Synodontis frontosus
Synodontis schall
Synodontis budgetti

It is around 30cm long (more like 27cm I guess)
Thanks!

[N0body Of The Goat]

Looks very similar to "Troy," a syno I adopted ~5 years ago. The family I adopted Troy from received the fish in apparently quite poor tank conditions when they bought the house, the previous owner left the tank and catfish behind. I provisionally IDed Troy as being a

Synodontis budgetti

, as the fish's body and fins are without any dark spots/stripes. If the ID is correct, Troy is rather undersize for an adult at now ~18cm SL compared to ~40cm SL recorded in the PC database, but that could possibly be explained by the conditions the catfish was found in by the previous owner when they moved in.

Troy is quite unique in my 6-foot African tank, in that this fish will readily flip upside down to feed from the water surface. "He" used to get a bit feisty after water changes, chasing round my fully grown Synodontis notatus, while never bothering with the three Synodonits brichardi; Synodontis angelicus and Synodontis schoutedeni (or the four Euchilichthys spp.).

Not to be trusted with small fish, the previous owner advertised Troy because their adult Neon Tetras and Kribensis youngsters were disappearing overnight. Smallest fish in the tank is a ~7cm SL male Empire Gudgeon, the only non-African resident.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Anyone else?

It can't be clarias as the caudal isn't red and the barbels aren't (strongly) branched, can it?

[N0body Of The Goat]

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38952&p=266382&hil ... ti#p266382

Thread/photo of Troy before purchase, as I'm still very guilty of not photographing or filming my fish very often!

[Viktor Jarikov]

Nice! Thanks for sharing, mate. I love obscure and rare synos. Yours looks very close to Xeno's but Xeno's doesn't sport any dorsal extensions... which may or may not mean much.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Anyone else out there with an opinion?

[Jools]

S. budgetti for me, I've only ever seen one that big, 25cm SL would be normal?

Jools

[N0body Of The Goat]

Nice! Thanks for sharing, mate. I love obscure and rare synos. Yours looks very close to Xeno's but Xeno's doesn't sport any dorsal extensions... which may or may not mean much.

Troy doesn't often have any of those fin extensions these days, my guess is that the six ~16-18cm SL Distichodus affinis and my singleton ~30cm Distichodus cf. rostatus give Troy the odd nip, especially when Troy is cruising upside down at the water surface at food time!

[Viktor Jarikov]

The D. sexfasciatum I ever kept were all jerks but the crown of the meanest fish I have ever kept goes to D. lusosso.

*****

Thank you, Jools!