syno id

[ali12345]

Hi,
I posted a very poor picture a while ago. Now I have a better picture, albeit a problem picture. Moved my syno and he is not regaining his colour and has a pink although not seemingly damaged humeral process. Still waiting in the other thread so I thought I might try to get his id
now I have another photo.

Alison

[loachy_406]

What is he meant to look like/used to look like. With IDing this pic you may run into the problem of 'what does a stressed one of these look like?'

[ali12345]

Hi,
I know it is a long shot..
He/she is 17 years old, 7-8 inches and has similar pattern to S. Schoutedini, C. Koensis when relaxed.
Usually the humeral process is not noticeable.
thanks
Alison

[loachy_406]

Big breath!
OK, I looked through all the Synos and the ones that matched your description were -

Synodontis aterrimus

,

Synodontis comoensis

,

Synodontis robertsi

,

Synodontis serpentis

,

Synodontis greshoffi

and

Synodontis sp_hybrid(3)

. And obviously

Synodontis schoutedeni

and

Synodontis koensis

. However, then I did a search on Synos with a minimum size of 7 inches. After trawling through those entrys the only ones with your aforementioned wiggles on were

Synodontis greshoffi

and

Synodontis sp_hybrid(3)

. Since your Syno is 17 years old it is unlikely that he is a modern hybrid, although in the Cat-eLog entry it says

Much remains unclear surrounding this species not least if it actually is a naturally ocurring species or if it is a man made beauty.

so it may be one of those. There is only one registered My Cats keeper so it is by no means common in the trade. Also there seem to be far more lines on it that the species that you likened your Syno to in the first place. By my reckoning the search seems to be pretty much narrowed down to

Synodontis greshoffi

. If that's not him then I don't know...

[Richard B]

If we're talking about the fish pictured above with the pink bony head shield (the humeral process is on the side of the head) it isn't a great photo as we can't see the dorsal, adipose or caudal which can often help with an id - that said, loachy_406 has done some good detective work & greshoffi maybe a possibility although the patterning is less intense with greshoffi than schoutedeni or koensis. A better photo would certainly help us

[ali12345]

Hi, thanks guys. I was told humeral process elsewhere and misunderstood, so apologies for that.

I just can't get a good picture. Here is an old one which may help. Greschoffi sounds good though. Although none seem just right.
Alison
another photo :

[ali12345]

Seems to lack the serrations on the fin shown on this page on ScotCat
http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/s_greshoffi.htm

[Richard B]

I'm pretty certain the serrations will be there even if not shown in your photos - they are present on all synos. It is one of the reasons you have to be wary when netting them as they can get tangled so easily.

[ali12345]

Ok, they just aren't as pronounced as in the pictures, maybe it is an age thing.
Alison