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Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and world of catfish. I'm trying to figure out which catfish I have. My LFS told me it was a synodontis ornatus, but my catfish looks more like the tourei. It's brown with white stripes on its fins and rear half of its body and has spots on the front half. I've posted some pics but the quality isn't all that great. Let me know if I should post some better pics.

I cannot see the pics, but the color pattern you describe does not sound like that of S. ornatus (neither does it sound like that of S. toureieither, but it definitely does not sound like S. ornatus).

I've posted the pics to yahoo briefcase...

http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/wil ... =bc&.view=

It looks like to me. Can you get a picture of the full view of the body?

I've added one more pic (cat4) to my briefcase which give a bit of a body view. Unfortunately, my cat is a bit shy but I will add better photos once I get a chance.

Hmm...the fish in this thread?

I'm not sure. It might be because my cat is still a juvenile (or vice versa) but the front half looks different. The pattern on my cat's front half isn't connected, but more spotty. But the second half looks similar. I was told that the cat was very rare, but I have no way of verfying this.

I took some more pics this morning and hopefully they turned out ok. I'll post them when I get home from work. Thanks!

This is without a doubt the infamous Eastern European hybrid sold as "Synodontis ornatipinnis" but more properly called "Synodontis 'zebrinus'". In the Catelog as Synodontis sp. 5. I don't know what you paid for this fish. If it was not too expensive (e.g., less than $30), it may be worth holding on to. Otherwise, I'd take it back to your LFS and demand a refund on the ground that this is NOT Synodontis ornatipinnis but a man-made hybrid used to rip people off.

Dinyar

Ok...thanks for the positive ID. It definitely looks like the dark brown juvenile pic. Looking at the adult pic, I'm not too sure I like it anymore. Additionally, the 10" is can grow to is a bit big for my tank. I paid $40. Is that fair? I'm definitely considering bringing it back to my LFS...

I've talked to my LFS and he his adamant that my cat is an ornatipinnis (ornatus). Is there a chane that mine is a juvenile and as it matures, it'll change it's coloration?

It happens sometimes, but I wouldn't count on it.

Your LFS may honestly believe they are , since that is probably what they were sold to the LFS as. But they are definitely not.

FWIW, I too bought this fish about six months ago. S. ornatipinnis is a fish I've been looking for for a decade, and in my excitement at seeing something advertised under that name and that was a reasonable semblance to boot, I snapped up the fish without thinking. When I realized my mistake, I took it back and traded it for other fish of equal value. Though I explained that the fish is a man-made hybrid falsely advertised as S. ornatipinnis, the LFS still has several specimens that it's selling as ornatipinnis.

Dinyar