Synodontis polli • Mochokidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Juvenile
Close-up of mouth
Close-up of ventral view of head
Lateral view
Lateral view
Moliro

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Synodontis polli** Gosse, 1982
Common Name(s)	Poll's Syno
Type Locality	Lake Tanganyika.
Synonym(s)	Synodontis eurystomus
Pronunciation	sin oh don tiss - poll eye
Etymology	Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth. Specifically named after Max Poll, a Belgian ichthyologist who worked extensively from fish from Lake Tanganyika and the Congo drainage.
Species Information
Size	100mm (3.9") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	All species in the genus Synodontis have a hardened head cap that has attached a process (humeral process) which is situated behind the gill opening and pointed towards the posterior. The dorsal fin and pectoral fins have a hardened first ray which is serrated. Caudal fin is always forked. There is one pair of maxillary barbels, sometimes having membranes and occasionally branched. The two pairs of mandibular barbels are often branched and can have nodes attached. The cone-shaped teeth in the upper jaw are short. S-shaped and movable in the lower jaw. These fish produce audible sounds when disturbed rubbing the base of the pectoral spine against the pectoral girdle. Mouth wide, hence the original name of Synodontis eurystomus, which means ''wide mouth''. Cusp on dorsal edge of humeral process. Adult males are a chocolate brown with numerous black spots. Dull white edging on posterior edges of fins. Barbels short. Juveniles have a lighter coloration and somewhat brighter fin edging.
Sexing	Males are larger and more robust than females. Can be sexed by genital papilla, as per other Synodontis spp.
General Remarks	Nomen novum for Synodontis eurystomus Matthes, 1959, preoccupied by Synodontis eurystomus Pfeffer, 1889. Although the type specimens are from Burundian waters, the species appears to be widely distributed around the lake, with some regional variation in appearance. Schraml [DATZ, 2003] reports possible S. polli variant from Lake Mweru.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Africa: Lake Tanganyika. African Waters , Western Rift Valley Lakes, Tanganyika (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	7.8 - 9.2
Temperature	23.0-29.0°C or 73.4-84.2°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	Clean, stable and hard water conditions, as per other Lake Tanganyika Synodontis. Strong current not necessary, but tolerated.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Ominivore, with a preference for meaty foods. Will readily take flake foods, but should be fed a varied diet, supplemented by frozen and live foods. While spirulina is easily accepted, unlike S. multipunctatus, S. petricola, and even S. dhonti, S. polli will not eat vegetables such as cucumber, zucchini, etc. Plants are untouched.
Furniture	Best kept in larger tanks. Furnish with rocky hiding places. Plants such as Vallisneria are optional.
Compatibility	Compatible with most Rift Lake catfish, cichlids and mastacembelids. All except fry and very tiny fish are likely to be safe. Adult males may fight when first introduced, but aggression ceases once dominance and territories are established.
Breeding	Many reports, but none confirmed. Upon investigation, reported spawnings have been of species other than S. polli.
Further Information
References	Cybium (Ser. 3)v. 6 (no. 2) - pp48
Registered Keepers	(1) Richard B, who also notes: "My individual has a birth defect of a missing mandibular barbel I have 2 other "variants" of polli but need to post photos for discussion on these forums", (2) Tulio, (3) Oliver D., (4) synodont_fan, who also notes: "I like this species a lot. The color pattern is similar to multipunctatus, but the head is much wider and the body color of my specimen is darker. Pretty shy.", (5) alga (k: 6), (6) caudalis, (7) Dinyar, (8) Julie (k: 2), (9) Plunt, (10) cathje (k: 6), (11) worton[pl] (k: 6), (12) drgold (k: 6), (13) toby (k: 2), (14) Birger (k: 7), (15) theonetruepath (k: 4), (16) drpleco (k: 3), (17) judeblackburn, (18) wimmels, (19) longstocking, (20) richb, (21) shooter50014 (k: 3). Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species. Add this species to your "my cats" page.
Breeding Reports	None.
More Resources	- Search Planet Catfish for more on Synodontis polli - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Synodontis polli on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Synodontis polli on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	15506 hits.
Last Update	2005 Nov 10 00:00 (species record created: 2001 Apr 21 00:00)

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