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Awhile ago I picked up a group of unfortunately one came in with fungused eyes...after treatment and quaratine it still lost both eyes completely.

I would not wish this on anything but this fish has adapted quite well.

When put into new surroundings it will circle around until making contact with something, when it does it sticks to that object and slowly will explore from there. Once it has gotten to know its surroundings it will stick to certain pathways that it has learned and likes to use almost always staying in contact with something (usually alongside stones) Its long barbels must be a huge help in this. When being fed, certain routes are used that it knows may bring it in contact with food. I have even seen it out in the open feeding with the other four S.alberti it is in with but any sound or vibration sends it back to a contact point where it knows the route to what it hopes is safety.
i was worried it would not compete well for food but it seems to be staying healthy and robust.

One thing some may find interesting is that it now sports a flashy brass color which must be its base coloration, the spots are very very faint. The pictures almost shows it as its colors are now,but actually it looks more brassy (if that is a color) but the cameras are having a hard time picking this up.

Well this certainly is unfortunate for your poor fish!! But nonetheless it definitely supports the theory of having long barbels being of definite use in murky/poor visibility waters. It's great to see that he's coping very well in his setup, and do you drop food along his "familiar pathway" in the tank?

and do you drop food along his "familiar pathway" in the tank?

Yes I do...got to help it along a little bit

In a weird coincidence, I have an angelfish in my tank that has 6 S. alberti in it that is totally blind. It was beat to crap by another angelfish and both of its eyes fungused over and were eventually lost. It has continued to live for about 4 months since losing both eyes. It eats and gets around in a tank with a high amount of water flow--all with no barbels! The aggressive angelfish is still in the tank with it and doesn't really bother it now.

dear thing.

I have one female sterbai with no eyes. unknown what happenned, may have pruchased her like that. she is fat and sassy and lays eggs and breeds all the time. She does seem to follow her own circuit tho. Even since i noticed she had no eyes , that i could detect, I make sure and always keep furniture the same for her. move back exact after I clean around or add more sand.

This is a great testament to catfish durability. And great insight into how catfish relate to their environment. I always put 'furniture' back as close to original as possible after gravel vacs, as I know my cats are not happy when things are different.

Also a great story about the angelfish. Only one thing, that angel does have a pair of 'barbels' in a sense: its pelvic fins. I've seen them use them like feelers (not as efficiently as a gourami, but never-the -less). And the relationship between the dominant angel and the blind one is very interesting. I wonder why it doesn't attack the blind fish anymore.

I asked the nasty angelfish. His response: "He was looking at me funny." Haha, kidding!

Let's not forget about how sensitive the LLS (lateral line system) is in fish. I'm sure it plays a huge part in navigation.

LOL! ok you got me on that one.

Oh yeah, I agree, the lateral line is extremely important. Particularly in terms of water movement and position of tankmates.

Birger, how's the blind S. alberti doing? Any conspecific aggression towards it?

yes Birger how is he?

and rofllmaocopter to the following

Re: Blind Synodontis alberti
by scleropages on Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:45 pm

I asked the nasty angelfish. His response: "He was looking at me funny." Haha, kidding!

k not really funny when it happens to your fish sorry but kinda funny right? just as a joke? :blush

Birger, how's the blind S. alberti doing? Any conspecific aggression towards it?

Actually looking a little thin, I am moving all the others out tonight and leave this one alone for awhile...there also was a brood of young aulonocara cichlids in with them that are getting larger so maybe to much going on. I do not see any aggression but who knows what goes on during the night...not ripped up or anything though.

Thank you for asking
Birger

any update on this little guy, Birger?

My blind corys are still fit and active and spawning.

Leads a fairly cushy life right now, lives in a tank with 9 Betta simplex.
Manages well now and is growing.
The color of the eye in the picture is how it actually looks and its natural color has come back.

ahh, what a beauty! looks wonderful!

also love those bettas!! I want to one day get some wild ones

wow a testament to fish intelligence. it really takes a while to understand fish, but it is very clear that they are thinking something. this just proves that they are much more intelligent than most of us think being able to remember feelings than making paths is truly remarkable.

I now have it in a 125 with the other S. alberti, some S. soloni, 2 female schoutedeni and some nigriventris, it is doing fine...it is actually much more active than the other alberti, the others being the most reclusive of all my synos.

A recent shot and the colors it is sporting now Birger

here is a pic of my syno alberti ,
its fully grown about 8 or 9 inches with the head of the slightly bigger decoras behind it .