Identity Of This Synodontis Please

[Jinkz]

Hi all.

Can someone help nail the identity of this Synodontis please? Been watching him for the best part of 3 weeks and ended up bringing him home with me along with 3 of his mates (albeit smaller) He's very peaceful, bothers no-one and stays out the way until sunrise, sundown times when he becomes a lot more active roaming around the tank.

Apologies for the terrible pic but he's sat at the back of the tank and isn't for moving

Edit..managed to get a couple of better pics using the iphone.

 

[moochy13]

how big is it ? syno patterns can change drastically from youth to adulthood, particuarly ive found in featherfin and hybrid synos, which yours could well be. i brought one with similar patterning, and by the time it was 4-5 inches he had lost all his pattern and turned into a dull brown with black spots featherfin/hybrid. i already had a large featherfin so it had to go, as depending on size and tank size, they dont like eachother.

heres a pic of another syno i brought as a baby. again, i brought it because its patterns were mega, and i was holding on to hope that it would keep them into maturity, rather than going a boring dull brown like the previous one, which i expected.

at the moment, it still looks pretty much like that and head to tail is a good 5-6 inches long. however, he doesnt get on with my big featherfin, they just stay out of eachothers way.

heres a pic of what im pretty sure is my pure featherfin

so depending on size, the patterns could be a defining feature or just markings that will get lost. i dont know how big your tank is, but if they turn out to be featherfins or hybrids, you could have a bit of a warzone on your hands.

this page is from planet catfish, you can see what i mean about how much the featherfins change in pattern as they get older. the more i look at it, the more i think you might have proper featherfins. its got pretty big eyes in comparison with its head, and the pattern looks like it would match a young one, from the slightly pants pictures you've taken

planet catfish

 

[xingumike]

OP's looks like Eupterus from what little I can see.

Moochy, agree that your first is a hybrid and second is Eupterus.

 

[moochy13]

thought as much on all 3 counts.

according to PC, eupterous synos can be sociable, i have to say this is very much against any experience ive seen. however my experience in my tank and a friends comes frm adding a syno to a tank with an already established larger specimen. getting 4 together at the same size, in a big enough tank with enough hiding spots, you might away with it. bear in mind these get pretty large though. ive seen good 10" specimens in LFS tanks, and planet catfish reccomends a minimum 3ft tank for one. its possible that my one also ate some neons, very small fish could be seen as midday munchies.

 

[xingumike]

that my one also ate some neons, very small fish could be seen as midday munchies.

that definitely happens, unless it was a Raphael that decimated my GF's neons.

 

[Jinkz]

how big is it ? syno patterns can change drastically from youth to adulthood, particuarly ive found in featherfin and hybrid synos, which yours could well be. i brought one with similar patterning, and by the time it was 4-5 inches he had lost all his pattern and turned into a dull brown with black spots featherfin/hybrid. i already had a large featherfin so it had to go, as depending on size and tank size, they dont like eachother.

heres a pic of another syno i brought as a baby. again, i brought it because its patterns were mega, and i was holding on to hope that it would keep them into maturity, rather than going a boring dull brown like the previous one, which i expected.

at the moment, it still looks pretty much like that and head to tail is a good 5-6 inches long. however, he doesnt get on with my big featherfin, they just stay out of eachothers way.

heres a pic of what im pretty sure is my pure featherfin

so depending on size, the patterns could be a defining feature or just markings that will get lost. i dont know how big your tank is, but if they turn out to be featherfins or hybrids, you could have a bit of a warzone on your hands.

this page is from planet catfish, you can see what i mean about how much the featherfins change in pattern as they get older. the more i look at it, the more i think you might have proper featherfins. its got pretty big eyes in comparison with its head, and the pattern looks like it would match a young one, from the slightly pants pictures you've taken

planet catfish

Thanks for the reply and the info Moochy. Think you're right and he is Synodontis Euptera. Had a good look online and his markings are basically the same as a juvenile Euptera. He has those giraffe type markings on most of his body, tail and fins with a few wee spots in amongst the other markings. At the moment he's approx 7cm in length nose to tail and quite a chunky wee lad. Likes his algae wafers but doesn't seem to bother any of the other inhabitants and they seem to give him a pretty wide berth also. His eyes are rather large in comparison to his head and that was part of the appeal when I seen him and why I wanted him in my tank and not in the shop I seen him in

As for the pics...guilty as charged, they are pants but he's chosen to make a wee space along the back of the tank his own and getting back there to take a pic is a nightmare. Just as well the iphone has a thin body