PlanetCatfish.com

I got this Synodontis as a Eupterus, but its not like my other featherfins at all.
Its more a browny hue and lacks any feather on the fins even though it is supposed to be 3 years old.
For comparison, the last photo is of one of my over one year old Eupterus.

Aha, never mind. I scrolled through about 75 species of Mochokidae and found it. Its Synodontis robbiana.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... ge_id=9668

It can be hard to tell nigrita from robbiana, but I would say it's one or the other.

What is the size of your fish? If it's more than 14cm(TL) then it's nigrita but in my eye it looks robbiana.

but in my eye it looks robbiana.

looks like a nice healthy looking one in my eyes as well

It looks like the fish we used to call robbiana, but i think there is some confusion now surrounding the "plainer" riverine synos in the UK trade.

Its only about 12cm. Could this thing be predatory? One of my native rainbows got eaten. My angelfish suddenly has a loose rear scale and a pearl gourami has a small nip out of its tail. These fish have been all together with my eupterus of 15cm for ages and nothing has even happened to any of them until the Robinana joined the tank.

As a rule synos aren't predatory, although they might be tempted by very small fish such as neons. However, they can be aggressively territorial. In my experience though, robbiana is one of the more peaceful species.

Its only about 12cm. Could this thing be predatory? One of my native rainbows got eaten.

Put some syno's together in a tank and there is a good chance of a bit of a shakeup until a pecking order is worked out but for this one to kill a rainbow I would not think so. If there are just the two syno's in this tank than the larger will quite likely bully the smaller and could even make it be a little or even a lot grouchier with the other fish depending on the individual.

1. The adipose fin of your fish is huge compared to robbiana or nigrita. Also note the spots rather than stripes on caudal fin.

2. This pic:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... age_id=901
shows the top of the humeral process as pointy, the rest of the pictures do not. Is this a variation? Or are these different fish?

Bear in mind this new syno I got is grossly overweight. I don't think its ever had much exercise before.
There are two eupterus in the tank and they are not mature yet, so I am hoping the older robbiana can fit in with them. If not, I can always move him.

I think now the rainbow may have hit the glass in a fright with the whirling antics of the synos and killed itself.
The other 3 rainbows have been moved in with much more sedate corydoras and mystery snails.

While the angelfish and two pearl gourami are wary, I don't think they are actually being pursued. They are only getting the wits scared out of them every so often when a couple synos swim too close. Synos are not slow dopey swimmers when there is a game of chasey on the go and a pair of 100mph pictus don't help either.

There is plenty of caves, dwiftwood and plants in the tank so no one has to stare each other into a fight.

1. The adipose fin of your fish is huge compared to robbiana or nigrita. Also note the spots rather than stripes on caudal fin.

2. This pic:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/im ... age_id=901
shows the top of the humeral process as pointy, the rest of the pictures do not. Is this a variation? Or are these different fish?

To me the fish at the top of this thread is a more mature fish which is similar to pictures 9 and 10 in the Cat-eLog
It is more difficult to distinguish juvenile nigrita from juvenile robbiana

There are two eupterus in the tank and they are not mature yet, so I am hoping the older robbiana can fit in with them. If not, I can always move him.

having two euptera(eupterus) may help with aggression, they both may pick on this one or not...you will have to watch closely

I do not think your fish is grossly overweight...stout yes, but healthy looking

Birger