identification of Synodontis catfish

[Chris]

Hi I am fairly new to this site (and to synodontis catfish) so forgive me if I am asking daft questions. About 6 months ago I bought 6 catfish at about 1" long labeled as synodontis multipunctas. These silvery little guys have now grown up and are obviously not S. multipunctas some look like the pictures of S. ocellifer and others like S. courteti. The fish are also far darker (more a greeny black with dark spots like the colour of the S. courteti in the cat-elog) than any of the pictures of S. multipunctas I have seen. Hence the questions:

1.) What am I looking for when trying to ID synodontis catfish?

2.) How do you tell if a fish is a hybrid? Is it just that there are only a limited number of catfish species imported and if it doesn't look like any of them its a hybrid or are there dead give aways?

3.) How long does it take for a Syno to get to full size? Are there massive differences between juvinile fish and adults?

4.) Does anyone know what species are commonly avalible in the UK?

any help would be great

cheers

Chris

[Silurus]

Why don't you provide a picture and we'll ID it for you.

From your description it sounds like it may be a hybrid (like this, maybe).

[Chris]

Thanks for the really quick reply.

The three cats that I see out and about all the time are identical the 2nd picture of Synodontis ocellifer in the cat-elog. The others all look different (to each other and when compared to any pictures I have seen on the net, although still very synodontis looking). They are also much more secretive than the other three. I am getting a digital camera in the next few weeks so should be able to shed more light on the more mysterious fish in my tank.

The thing I find tough with Syno cats is the variation you get within the same species. If you take the pictures of the adults (or what I asume are adults, pictures 2, 3 and 6) of S. ocellifer in the cat-elog they all look very different to me. Are there a set of features I should be looking for?

[Chris]

I have managed to get some pictures with my web cam. They are not great I will try and get some better one later tonight.

[Jools]

The middle pic seems to show a fish with a bent dorsal spine which is seen in hybrid Synos. I can't really tell from your pics what they are besides certainly being a Syno!

Jools