Synodontis petricola • Mochokidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Ventral view
Big spot variant
Blunt head variant
Close-up of blunt head variant
Specimen showing longer adipose fin
Zambia
Stamp
Close-up of head
Kapampa Congo

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Synodontis petricola** Matthes, 1959
Common Name(s)	None
Type Locality	Lake Tanganyika.
Pronunciation	sin oh don tiss - pet ree kola
Etymology	Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth.
Species Information
Size	130mm (5.1") 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. Similar to four other described catfish from the lake. The cuckoo catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus, is the most common import and you, occasionally, may also encounter S. polli, S. dhonti and S. tanganyicae. All sport the distinctive white barbels and are spotted as juveniles to some degree or other and thus another form of quick identification prevails - S. petricola and S. lucipinnis, are the only species with a solid white leading dorsal and pectoral fin ray and the spotted body pattern. S. petricola can be differentiated from S. lucipinnis by the former having smaller spots on the head than the body spots. All in all. this species (as presently defined) is highly variable and likely to contain more than one valid species in the long run.
Sexing	Unknown.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Northern Lake Tanganyika, DRC, Africa African Waters , Western Rift Valley Lakes, Tanganyika (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	7.0 - 8.5
Temperature	22.0-24.0°C or 71.6-75.2°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	A very easy fish to feed. All prepared foods are accepted and the fish will eat heavily thus making conditioning a relatively simple task.
Furniture	Bogwood is utilised although rock clusters appear more preferable. Seems to enjoy long, tall, flowing plants such as giant Vallisneria.
Compatibility	A social species tolerant of their own kind and unimposing.
Breeding	Because of the similarity with S. lucipinnis, it is unclear if this species is the one many aquarists have spawned.
Further Information
References	Folia Sci. Afr. Centr.v. 5 (no. 4) - pp78
Registered Keepers	(1) worton[pl] (k: 5), who also notes: "Keep mine in 240l tank heavily decorated with sand-rocks. I love them. I get them 2 years ago and they were tiny - really, really very small - 1cm long or even less. Now they are around 4cm long (you think your cichlids grow slow? Try these guys!).", (2) Ak Viking (k: 23), (3) mikey, (4) dorycora, (5) Richard B (k: 4), who also notes: "1 is 60 mm the other 90 mm (approx) ", (6) Tulio, (7) Barbie, (8) Trident2004, (9) Lornek8, (10) Oliver D., who also notes: "Spawned...", (11) amergim, (12) fishfarmer (k: 36), who also notes: "Breeding report on my web page http://cinci-fishfarmer.com/reports/SynodontisPetricolaBR.html", (13) caudalis (k: 2), (14) synodont_fan, (15) vernonlarge (k: 2), (16) Cicolid (k: 7), who also notes: "Bought from TC @ 25mm $150", (17) cwm, (18) smithrc, (19) spot86t (k: 2), (20) AngJo, (21) thebirdofprey (k: 24), (22) nuth88 (k: 12), (23) teknikAL (k: 2), (24) jollysue (k: 2), (25) kagal, (26) unblinded, (27) moi_eater (k: 7), (28) joepleco (k: 2), who also notes: "Unfortunately the fire dept. pronounced them dead Thankgiving morning when I woke up thinking my house was burning. My heater fried my fish and released toxins into my tank. Only survivor L114.", (29) vriesea (k: 18), who also notes: "Bought initially 6 from Mainly Cichlids. Bought rest at several club auctions. Currently in grow out tank. Will breed in 2008, summer.", (30) Gump, (31) Plunt, (32) Dinyar, (33) synosteve, (34) uknavynigel, (35) Julie, (36) daryn39 (k: 4), (37) LowCat, (38) JimHitchiner (k: 2), (39) koter73, (40) Clammage (k: 5), (41) flowaz (k: 3), (42) NetsuaiAngel, (43) bcb (k: 13), (44) fishbguy (k: 2), (45) shaunypoo (k: 5), (46) arzerkle, (47) Travis_Conklin, (48) Azarak, (49) Camaroahopp, (50) winbill, (51) ariefputranto (k: 14), (52) tank_girl, (53) badtaz30, (54) jha61, (55) oliv67 (k: 14), (56) Birger (k: 2), (57) KnaveTO, who also notes: "Lost 3 on 21 Oct 09 - Tank crash", (58) theonetruepath (k: 4), (59) niallborwell, (60) leej24 (k: 5), (61) daniel4832, (62) Barracuda518 (k: 16), (63) judeblackburn, (64) fleshgear, (65) bongthecgb (k: 7), (66) XufoX (k: 5), (67) Miss Dib Dabs, (68) cpfc (k: 8), (69) minifoot77 (k: 10), (70) mrfishydude (k: 3), (71) catfanatic, (72) jules a birnbaum (p: 2), (73) rayfong, (74) john_d (p: 2, k: 10), (75) zebra1 (k: 6), (76) speakerman3, (77) retroculus, (78) Andypex (k: 9), (79) arapaimag, (80) maas, (81) feesh (k: 4), (82) jimlaroche83 (k: 2), (83) Anthonyck, who also notes: "Added one to make sure water quality and feeding routine would be acceptable. May add more soon.", (84) jsalas623 (k: 11), (85) Redcatman (k: 4), who also notes: "These were obtained from a local dealer who has had a pair of these fish breeding regularly in an 18 inch tank in his shop for the past 10 years or more. Spawns of several hundred fry are common. One unusual feature is that the spawning adults are almost black in colour which the dealer reckons might also be something to do with the fact that we are in a soft water area with a pH below 7.0. The juveniles though have the normal pattern. They are quite slow growing but otherwise seem content in our water.", (86) ellohcee, (87) nooneknows, (88) fleahound (p: 2), (89) transporter42, (90) JamieH, (91) richard501, (92) shooter50014 (k: 109), (93) theviper06 (k: 2), (94) tamara (k: 2), (95) markmoten (k: 2). 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	(1) catfanatic (b: 0).
More Resources	- Shane's World Species Visually comparing Synodontis petricola & S. lucipinnis - Search Planet Catfish for more on Synodontis petricola - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Synodontis petricola on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Synodontis petricola on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	31901 hits.
Last Update	2008 Sep 27 12:12 (species record created: 2002 Jun 10 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Synodontis petricola Matthes, 1959

Common Name(s)

None

Type Locality

Lake Tanganyika.

Pronunciation

sin oh don tiss - pet ree kola

Etymology

Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth.

Species Information

Size

130mm (5.1") 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.

Similar to four other described catfish from the lake. The cuckoo catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus, is the most common import and you, occasionally, may also encounter S. polli, S. dhonti and S. tanganyicae. All sport the distinctive white barbels and are spotted as juveniles to some degree or other and thus another form of quick identification prevails - S. petricola and S. lucipinnis, are the only species with a solid white leading dorsal and pectoral fin ray and the spotted body pattern. S. petricola can be differentiated from S. lucipinnis by the former having smaller spots on the head than the body spots.
All in all. this species (as presently defined) is highly variable and likely to contain more than one valid species in the long run.

Sexing

Unknown.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Northern Lake Tanganyika, DRC, Africa
African Waters Show it on a map

, Western Rift Valley Lakes, Tanganyika Show it on a map

(hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

7.0 - 8.5

Temperature

22.0-24.0°C or 71.6-75.2°F (Show others within this range)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

A very easy fish to feed. All prepared foods are accepted and the fish will eat heavily thus making conditioning a relatively simple task.

Furniture

Bogwood is utilised although rock clusters appear more preferable. Seems to enjoy long, tall, flowing plants such as giant Vallisneria.

Compatibility

A social species tolerant of their own kind and unimposing.

Breeding

Because of the similarity with S. lucipinnis, it is unclear if this species is the one many aquarists have spawned.

Further Information

References

Folia Sci. Afr. Centr.v. 5 (no. 4) - pp78

Registered Keepers

(1) worton[pl] (k: 5), who also notes: "Keep mine in 240l tank heavily decorated with sand-rocks. I love them. I get them 2 years ago and they were tiny - really, really very small - 1cm long or even less. Now they are around 4cm long (you think your cichlids grow slow? Try these guys!).", (2) Ak Viking (k: 23), (3) mikey, (4) dorycora, (5) Richard B (k: 4), who also notes: "1 is 60 mm the other 90 mm (approx) ", (6) Tulio, (7) Barbie, (8) Trident2004, (9) Lornek8, (10) Oliver D., who also notes: "Spawned...", (11) amergim, (12) fishfarmer (k: 36), who also notes: "Breeding report on my web page http://cinci-fishfarmer.com/reports/SynodontisPetricolaBR.html", (13) caudalis (k: 2), (14) synodont_fan, (15) vernonlarge (k: 2), (16) Cicolid (k: 7), who also notes: "Bought from TC @ 25mm $150", (17) cwm, (18) smithrc, (19) spot86t (k: 2), (20) AngJo, (21) thebirdofprey (k: 24), (22) nuth88 (k: 12), (23) teknikAL (k: 2), (24) jollysue (k: 2), (25) kagal, (26) unblinded, (27) moi_eater (k: 7), (28) joepleco (k: 2), who also notes: "Unfortunately the fire dept. pronounced them dead Thankgiving morning when I woke up thinking my house was burning. My heater fried my fish and released toxins into my tank. Only survivor L114.", (29) vriesea (k: 18), who also notes: "Bought initially 6 from Mainly Cichlids. Bought rest at several club auctions. Currently in grow out tank. Will breed in 2008, summer.", (30) Gump, (31) Plunt, (32) Dinyar, (33) synosteve, (34) uknavynigel, (35) Julie, (36) daryn39 (k: 4), (37) LowCat, (38) JimHitchiner (k: 2), (39) koter73, (40) Clammage (k: 5), (41) flowaz (k: 3), (42) NetsuaiAngel, (43) bcb (k: 13), (44) fishbguy (k: 2), (45) shaunypoo (k: 5), (46) arzerkle, (47) Travis_Conklin, (48) Azarak, (49) Camaroahopp, (50) winbill, (51) ariefputranto (k: 14), (52) tank_girl, (53) badtaz30, (54) jha61, (55) oliv67 (k: 14), (56) Birger (k: 2), (57) KnaveTO, who also notes: "Lost 3 on 21 Oct 09 - Tank crash", (58) theonetruepath (k: 4), (59) niallborwell, (60) leej24 (k: 5), (61) daniel4832, (62) Barracuda518 (k: 16), (63) judeblackburn, (64) fleshgear, (65) bongthecgb (k: 7), (66) XufoX (k: 5), (67) Miss Dib Dabs, (68) cpfc (k: 8), (69) minifoot77 (k: 10), (70) mrfishydude (k: 3), (71) catfanatic, (72) jules a birnbaum (p: 2), (73) rayfong, (74) john_d (p: 2, k: 10), (75) zebra1 (k: 6), (76) speakerman3, (77) retroculus, (78) Andypex (k: 9), (79) arapaimag, (80) maas, (81) feesh (k: 4), (82) jimlaroche83 (k: 2), (83) Anthonyck, who also notes: "Added one to make sure water quality and feeding routine would be acceptable. May add more soon.", (84) jsalas623 (k: 11), (85) Redcatman (k: 4), who also notes: "These were obtained from a local dealer who has had a pair of these fish breeding regularly in an 18 inch tank in his shop for the past 10 years or more. Spawns of several hundred fry are common. One unusual feature is that the spawning adults are almost black in colour which the dealer reckons might also be something to do with the fact that we are in a soft water area with a pH below 7.0. The juveniles though have the normal pattern. They are quite slow growing but otherwise seem content in our water.", (86) ellohcee, (87) nooneknows, (88) fleahound (p: 2), (89) transporter42, (90) JamieH, (91) richard501, (92) shooter50014 (k: 109), (93) theviper06 (k: 2), (94) tamara (k: 2), (95) markmoten (k: 2).

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 species list

Add this species to your "my cats" page.

Breeding Reports

(1) catfanatic (b: 0).

More Resources

- Shane's World

Species

Visually comparing Synodontis petricola & S. lucipinnis

- Search Planet Catfish for more on Synodontis petricola
Link

- BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts)
Look up AquaticRepublic.com

- Look up Synodontis petricola on AquaticRepublic.com
Look up Fishbase

- Look up Synodontis petricola on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search.
Link

- URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)

Hits

31901 hits.

Last Update

2008 Sep 27 12:12 (species record created: 2002 Jun 10 00:00)

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