synodontis longevity

ali12345 · Post by **ali12345** » 20 Jun 2006, 18:15

Hi,
just joined. I have a synodontis schoutedeni or robbianus and I have had him for 15 1/2 years. How much longer can I expect him to live? Unfortunately due to a burst tank I lost my 2 other synos a year or so ago.
Alison

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 20 Jun 2006, 18:18

15 years or so is good going, but I would expect (from what I've read) that they will live to around 20, larger Syno's can live to 30 or so... Of course, for wild-caughts, you never really know how old they are when you get them, unless they are small (in which case they are obviously not very old...

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Jorge · Post by **Jorge** » 20 Jun 2006, 20:24

they are said to reach 20 years old or more...

LimaShovel · Post by **LimaShovel** » 20 Jun 2006, 20:27

I hope my syno lives that long.

BTW what type of catfish is in your avatar Jorge.

24tropheus · Post by **24tropheus** » 12 Aug 2006, 00:18

This is the only type of fish that has never died on me. Even survived tank disasters and being left in the care of others for over a year. Oldest I have seen personaly 23 years.

Geist · Post by **Geist** » 12 Aug 2006, 07:59

My longest lived catfish was a Synodontis ornatus which died about 2 months ago. I am reasonably sure that I bought him somewhere around 1987/88 as a back then already fully grown specimen.
I still have another Synodontis species bought around the same time (I think some months later; it's been awhile) and he seems quite lively yet ;)
So from personal experience I would say that 20+ years life-expectancy isn't that uncommon for at least the larger species of Synodontis.

Regards,
Joachim

caught1 · Post by **caught1** » 15 Aug 2006, 03:03

I have a decorus that was about 4in when I bought him that is 21 years and still active , and seems to be doing well.

Fogelhund · Post by **Fogelhund** » 21 Aug 2006, 04:26

I have two or three rather aged Synodontis.

The first one is a male Synodontis multipunctatus. This fish was imported as a wildcaught specimen in 1981. He is still going strong and reproducing.

I also received a female with this shipment. Unfortunately, she blended in with the other fish that I have since obtained/raised, so I can't say for certain if she is still with us.

The other is a Synodontis petricola that was imported in 1982. She is doing quite well, though she's not seen another petricola in her years with me.

I also have a number of multipunctatus that I've raised up from the first pair. I didn't track them, but given the very low mortality rate I've had with them over the years, there must be some that are around 20 years old now as well.