Featherfin Syno (Synodontis eupterus)

[Nymox]

Its happened again, Im going syno crazy!

This is Akin, hes about 2 inches long. I love these guys, still interested in getting an ID on my other 'leopard' syno Ill be heading down to the lps I got it from early next week so Ill ask.

[Aquila]

You have to collect them all!

They are worse than beanie babies

[phoenix44]

:lol:

These guys are pretty awesome. they are yellow when they are really little, and sort of look like cories with long whiskers. I have 3 of them now including fat ____ who is 3.5 years old now if not older. :lol:

Best clean up, vacuum cleaner crew ever. there will never be a morsel of food that gets wasted.

[Nymox]

You have to collect them all!

They are worse than beanie babies

HAHA! your not wrong there, I'm thinking I just might, these and whiptails, I guess that makes me catfish crazy as Im dying for a school of pictus.

:lol:

These guys are pretty awesome. they are yellow when they are really little, and sort of look like cories with long whiskers. I have 3 of them now including fat ____ who is 3.5 years old now if not older. :lol:

Best clean up, vacuum cleaner crew ever. there will never be a morsel of food that gets wasted.

Nice! thats what I want him for and coz hes awesome I just let him out and have been watching him with my leopard to see if they got on well, the leopard is following him around after a little head butting, its cute they look like good friends. I bet they will be a great waste management team.

[phoenix44]

They get fat and lazy after a while. Just like Fat _____. her surname may not be repeated on a family forum - she is that useless.

[Nymox]

They get fat and lazy after a while. Just like Fat _____. her surname may not be repeated on a family forum - she is that useless.

lol hopefully mine wont get a chance to get too lazy, the others should keep it on its toes or fins rather. I guess I should starting looking into what species of syno we can get here and how many I can have lol, before I impulse buy too many. Definetly one of my favourite fish though. Cant wait till I get the pictus schooling I bet they look amazing.

[DennisP]

Speaking of synos...

[Nymox]

Speaking of synos...

my leopard looks very similar to those exect for the barbels, what are the ones in the video?

[phoenix44]

those are the cuckoos.

[Nymox]

Wonder what my leopard is then im getting interested haha.

Thats a cuckoo right?

This is a decorus

And this is Asani

He doesnt have the flashy fin like a decorus but the head looks about right tho I havnt seen the barbels. Tail and fins look more like the cuckcoo. I guess I have to wait till I get to the lps but the investigation seems like it might be fun anyway hehe.

[Jaxxnz]

I got a featherfin Syno too, its a crazy fish!, he beat up every fish in the tank! JD, S/Shark,Pleco,Severum..

greedy fish that what the are!

do these guy meant to be in a group or something?

[phoenix44]

jeez. mine is as placid as it gets.

she didn't even eat tiny baby dems and e.yellows as they swam around her.

[Nymox]

as far as I can tell the eupterus dont need to be in groups and some times wont tollerate other catfish. Reading through peoples posts and various different sites, pleco's seem to bare the majority of the aggression. Mine follows the leopard around and vice versa, they headbut each other occasionally and the eupterus does the cory thing where he pushes the leopard sideways. Mum said she was watching them last night and reckons they're in love lol

[firenzenz]

Wonder what my leopard is then im getting interested haha.

Thats a cuckoo right?

This is a decorus

And this is Asani

He doesnt have the flashy fin like a decorus but the head looks about right tho I havnt seen the barbels. Tail and fins look more like the cuckcoo. I guess I have to wait till I get to the lps but the investigation seems like it might be fun anyway hehe.

I agree with likelyhood of Decora being in the mix then It would be down to a few other rift valley syno's as part of mix as discussed here.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=45632

Not a cuckoo

Here's one of mine

Not petricola or lucipinnis either

Body spots look like that of 'Decora' but head shape and eyes look wrong, as is patterning.

If it were pure and from rift valley leading dorsal ray would be all black and dorsal would be be all black with white distal margin. Also this fish only seems to have partial black of caudal fin lobes.

I would tend to Hybrid hence the lack of known name.

I think all the LFS is going to tell you is a non scientific, common name. That name may well lead back to a corresponding scientific name but this means nothing as importers here seem to be applying common names now to syno's in the same way they have for plecs- 'Even spot syno'-?.

This is an out take from an article in Planet catfish on hybrids in Syno's-

The recent opening up of eastern European markets in the aquarium trade has had quite an impact on the aquarium fish hobby. On the plus side, some species are becoming more easily available because of eastern European breeders (most notably in Russia and the Czech Republic). The other side of the coin is that a larger number of hybrid species are also flooding the market as a result of the quest for "new" and "interesting" species. Because many of the fish are hormonally bred in Eastern Europe, it becomes fairly easy to generate interspecific hybrids simply by fertilizing the eggs of one species with the sperm of another.

Synodontis catfish are the dominant African catfish in the aquarium trade because of their attractive coloration and (generally) peaceful nature. Because Synodontis are so popular with aquarists, it is not surprising that they would be one of the first fish so targeted for hybridization. Although they don’t enjoy the same popularity from beginner to intermediate aquarists as the high profile species found among L-number plecos, they do produce a lot more offspring than the small, pretty plecos and thus are more commercially rewarding to fish farmers.

The reactions of aquarists to these hybrids differ widely. If, you are a purist at heart and would prefer not to have anything to do with these hybrids, this article is meant to provide you with some tips on how to spot a hybrid Synodontis to help you make an informed purchase (this article refers mainly to hybrids that have a Rift Lake Synodontis as one of the parental species).

Many of the hybrids have a Rift Lake Synodontis as one of the parental species, and one of the easiest way to tell if you have a hybrid is if it has some, but not all of the features typical of Rift Lake species. These characters will be covered in detail below. It should be noted that the most reliable way of distinguishing a hybrid from a species is to use a combination (and not just rely on any one) of these characters.

1. Body color

Many of the species of Rift Lake Synodontis, especially those with a pattern of large black spots (such as S. multipunctatus and S. petricola), have fairly light colored bodies, so if you spot what looks like a Rift Lake Synodontis with a dark body, you may be looking at a hybrid. There are darker-bodied species of Rift Lake Synodontis, of course, but color combined with the features described below is one way to tell hybrids from the species.

If the spots on the body of that "Rift Lake Synodontis" you see are not solid black spots, but an incomplete ring (C-shaped), chances are high that you are dealing with a hybrid.

Conversely, there are some hybrids that do not display the color pattern of the Rift Lake species, yet have other features often seen in Rift Lake species, such as white barbels.

2. Eye color

Almost all the Rift Lake Synodontis species have coppery eyes, so if you spot a Synodontis without the typical large-spotted pattern of many Rift Lake species, but with coppery eyes, you may be looking at a hybrid again. There are a (very) few riverine Synodontis species with coppery eyes, so eye color is a strong indicator, but by no means a completely reliable one, that you are dealing with a hybrid.

3. Fin color

Many of the hybrids with Rift Lake ancestry have some elements of the fin coloration of the Rift Lake species. In the true species, this typically consists of a black dorsal-fin spine and a black dorsal fin with a white distal margin and a pair of black stripes that run along the outer margins or centers of the caudal fin lobes. In many of the hybrids, we see an incomplete manifestation of the parental color pattern, so many hybrids may have a black dorsal spine, but not a black dorsal fin (and white distal edge), or incomplete black stripes that run along the caudal fin lobes.

4. Head and body shape

Some of the hybrids have distinctly humped backs caused by a very distinct concavity in the nuchal ("neck") region. Not all Synodontis have this nuchal concavity, or if they do, it is very slight. A very distinct nuchal concavity is a sure sign that you are dealing with a hybrid (or a deformed fish). A number of the hybrids also appear to have squat bodies, although this may not be so obvious.

5. Kinked dorsal spine

Some of the hybrids exhibit a distinctly kinked dorsal spine. The dorsal spine may be kinked in very large individuals of some species (e.g. Synodontis clarias), but if you see a kinked dorsal spine in a young fish, chances are good that you are dealing with a hybrid.

[Nymox]

Thanks interesting article :bounce: