Syn. Ornatipinnis

ggdhazel · Post by **ggdhazel** » 04 Apr 2003, 10:49

Does anybody ever see these guys around? While working for the fish Dept at a pet store I came across some listed for $10 bucks wholesale; I was a little skeptical since I had seen them listed on an internet page at one time for $75. I went ahead and ordered 6 of em but they turned out to be a variant of Syn. congicus. I'm not ready to get any right now but I was just curious on how difficult it is to get them.

Post by **Silurus** » 04 Apr 2003, 12:21

They are fairly rare as synos go. Sometimes, the somewhat similar (and much cheaper) S. brichardi is sold as S. ornatipinnis.
I have seen even S. decorus sold as S. ornatipinnis. You sure those are S. congicus and not S. decorus you have? The real S. congicus looks a lot more like S. nummifer.

Post by **Dinyar** » 04 Apr 2003, 15:39

S. ornatipinnis comes from around Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province and a port on the Congo river a couple of days by barge upriver from Kinshasa. Due to the continuing civil war in the Congo, Mbandaka is periodically inaccessible.

Some hormone bred S. ornatipinnis do appear in LFS at quite reasonable prices, but generally, the fish is either seldom available and very expensive when available, or is some other species sold as S. ornatipinnis.

Dinyar

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 04 Apr 2003, 15:50

As I've said in an earlier posting, my ornatipinnis turned out to be an angelicus with squiggles rather than spots.

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 04 Apr 2003, 16:44

But that should be dead easy to see; because ornatipinnis, like many spotted syno's, has darker spots on a lighter background; whereas angelicus is the only syno AFAIK wich has lighter spots on a darker background.....

ggdhazel · Post by **ggdhazel** » 05 Apr 2003, 06:15

Yep they were Syn. congicus "Varient 1"; that is if the Aqualog African Catfish Collection is correct. Its on page 58 lower left. I found a site where a lady supposedly had tank raised ones http://www.blackwater.50megs.com/ornat.htm

Post by **Silurus** » 05 Apr 2003, 12:29

The fish in the Aqualog Photoaltlas identified as S. congicus and S. congicus Variant I are not S. congicus. Variant I differs from the true S. congicus in having a different color pattern (S. congicus has a pattern like S. notatus or S. nummifer) and a triangular humeral process (S. congicus has a rounded one).
It looks a lot more similar to S. decorus (sans the dorsal fin filament) and is either that or a closely related (undescribed?) species.

ggdhazel · Post by **ggdhazel** » 06 Apr 2003, 23:56

I checked out Syn. Nummifer on this website. Much better pictures than the Aqualog atlas had of Nummifer. Yep thats what they were, I took them back to my store 6 weeks after. They were cool fish and did really well. I was just kinda upset that they were shipped as ornatipinnis.

oneoddfish · Post by **oneoddfish** » 07 Apr 2003, 02:39

where are you from usa uk germany china????