Synodontis angelica • Mochokidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Synodontis angelica** Schilthuis, 1891
Common Name(s)	Polka Dot Syno, Polka Dot Synodontis
Type Locality	Kinshasa, Stanley Pool, upper Congo R. near Brazzaville, Zaire.
Synonym(s)	Synodontis angelicus, Synodontis angelicus zonatus, Synodontis tholloni, Synodontis werneri
Pronunciation	sin oh don tiss
Etymology	Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth. This specific epithet literally means from the angels or messengers.
Species Information
Size	240mm (9.4") 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. Some specimens possess more yellow than white spots and the dark colour can range from dark grey through an inky purple to midnight black depending on mood, health, age and sex of the individual. The images shown here demonstrate how the colour pattern can vary between individuals, all are adults showing a greatly differing number of spots yet maintaining the solid black basic colour.
Sexing	First lay the fish in your hand with its head toward your palm and the tail toward your fingers. Hold the dorsal spine between your middle and ring finger so the fish is belly up and you won't get stuck (Which by the way, hurts like crazy!). The genital pore is in a small furrow of tissue (in healthy fish) and will be obstructed by the pelvic fins. Pull down on the tail gently to arch the fishes spine and the pelvic fins will stand and the furrow open to display the genital pore and the anus of the fish. The male has a somewhat ridged genital papillae on which the spermatoduct is on the back side, facing the tail fin. A gravid female will also show an extended papillae but the oviduct is on the ventral side of the papillae (And may also show a little redness if really gravid). A thin or emaciated female will have just two pink pores, the oviduct and the anus.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Congo River System, Africa African Waters, Congo (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	6.0 - 8.0
Temperature	23.0-27.0°C or 73.4-80.6°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	A hardy fish that can adapt to most conditions.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Omnivorous. This fish is not a fussy eater and even foods like cucumber and spirulina discs are nibbled at. Frozen foods will be greedily accepted and bring on good growth.
Furniture	Needs a cave to call home. Like most riverine Synos favours arching overhanging structures and large broad leaf plants. Prefers rocks to bogwood.
Compatibility	Peaceful, but not delicate. Able to defend itself.
Suggested Tankmates	Most larger community fish that are not timid or likely to compete for refuge.
Breeding	Unknown, but thought to be an egg scatterer.
Further Information
References	Tijdschr. Ned. Dierk. Ver. Ser. 2v. 3 - pp87
Registered Keepers	(1) Birger (k: 5), (2) synoguy, (3) funkyj1313, (4) Lornek8, (5) Tulio, (6) CatBrat, (7) GreenSynoMan, (8) synodont_fan (k: 3), who also notes: "I have an 8 inch specimen, which is very mild mannered. And a 6 inch specimen which is a little more aggressive. And a 4 inch specimen.", (9) Ben-cgn, (10) einstein-a-go-go, (11) V, (12) kvnbyl (k: 3), (13) unblinded, who also notes: "Truly one of the most beautiful of the synodontis. A little too secretive for my tastes except at feeding time.", (14) Junttis, (15) Gump, (16) jippo (k: 2), (17) derrickrscott (p: 2), (18) Plunt, (19) Julie (k: 4), who also notes: "the yellow/gold variety", (20) LowCat, (21) Kampfer, (22) fleahound (p: 3, k: 2), (23) Cornuta, (24) Moomoo, (25) Reginator, (26) shadowcat, (27) ariefputranto (k: 11), (28) crazylegs, (29) judeblackburn, (30) oliv67 (k: 5), (31) Caracal, (32) amt4470, (33) jprp, (34) danny.450, (35) weeb, who also notes: "Bought misidentified and severely beat up from LFS, currently living with small, peaceful community fish while it begins its recovery.", (36) fuzzytigerbird (p: 2), (37) diane (p: 2), (38) WoonyFishMan, (39) Tony, (40) Bijn, (41) cichlidman16yearsold (k: 43), (42) Miss Dib Dabs, (43) andywoolloo, (44) aquaoahu, (45) FunkyFredFrog, (46) arapaimag (k: 4), (47) rommer (k: 2), (48) TheCichlidKid15, (49) 2poc, (50) anthonyking, (51) Mcjlance, (52) clydeboy, who also notes: "Seems to have settled in fairly well, shows at feeding time and is at home under loads of bogwood.", (53) l114, (54) slayer5590, (55) lasteeves, (56) mikey, (57) BernieEcht (p: 2, k: 2), (58) sterna, who also notes: "This specimen was bought in 1986, I'm the second owner.", (59) Brisch, (60) naturalart, who also notes: "Purchased at 45mm, eats everything, somewhat shy", (61) m1ke715m, (62) CatfishPownage63, (63) corybreed. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.
Breeding Reports	None.
Articles	- CotM 1996 November
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Last Update	2009 Jan 15 14:36 (species record created: 2001 Apr 21 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Synodontis angelica Schilthuis, 1891

Common Name(s)

Polka Dot Syno, Polka Dot Synodontis

Type Locality

Kinshasa, Stanley Pool, upper Congo R. near Brazzaville, Zaire.

Synonym(s)

Synodontis angelicus, Synodontis angelicus zonatus, Synodontis tholloni, Synodontis werneri

Pronunciation

sin oh don tiss

Etymology

Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth. This specific epithet literally means from the angels or messengers.

Species Information

Size

240mm (9.4") 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.

Some specimens possess more yellow than white spots and the dark colour can range from dark grey through an inky purple to midnight black depending on mood, health, age and sex of the individual. The images shown here demonstrate how the colour pattern can vary between individuals, all are adults showing a greatly differing number of spots yet maintaining the solid black basic colour.

Sexing

First lay the fish in your hand with its head toward your palm and the tail toward your fingers. Hold the dorsal spine between your middle and ring finger so the fish is belly up and you won't get stuck (Which by the way, hurts like crazy!). The genital pore is in a small furrow of tissue (in healthy fish) and will be obstructed by the pelvic fins. Pull down on the tail gently to arch the fishes spine and the pelvic fins will stand and the furrow open to display the genital pore and the anus of the fish. The male has a somewhat ridged genital papillae on which the spermatoduct is on the back side, facing the tail fin. A gravid female will also show an extended papillae but the oviduct is on the ventral side of the papillae (And may also show a little redness if really gravid). A thin or emaciated female will have just two pink pores, the oviduct and the anus.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Congo River System, Africa
African Waters, Congo (click on these areas to find other species found there)

(Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)

6.0 - 8.0

Temperature

23.0-27.0°C or 73.4-80.6°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

A hardy fish that can adapt to most conditions.

Husbandry Information

Feeding

Omnivorous. This fish is not a fussy eater and even foods like cucumber and spirulina discs are nibbled at. Frozen foods will be greedily accepted and bring on good growth.

Furniture

Needs a cave to call home. Like most riverine Synos favours arching overhanging structures and large broad leaf plants. Prefers rocks to bogwood.

Compatibility

Peaceful, but not delicate. Able to defend itself.

Suggested Tankmates

Most larger community fish that are not timid or likely to compete for refuge.

Breeding

Unknown, but thought to be an egg scatterer.

Further Information

References

Tijdschr. Ned. Dierk. Ver. Ser. 2v. 3 - pp87

Registered Keepers

(1) Birger (k: 5), (2) synoguy, (3) funkyj1313, (4) Lornek8, (5) Tulio, (6) CatBrat, (7) GreenSynoMan, (8) synodont_fan (k: 3), who also notes: "I have an 8 inch specimen, which is very mild mannered. And a 6 inch specimen which is a little more aggressive. And a 4 inch specimen.", (9) Ben-cgn, (10) einstein-a-go-go, (11) V, (12) kvnbyl (k: 3), (13) unblinded, who also notes: "Truly one of the most beautiful of the synodontis. A little too secretive for my tastes except at feeding time.", (14) Junttis, (15) Gump, (16) jippo (k: 2), (17) derrickrscott (p: 2), (18) Plunt, (19) Julie (k: 4), who also notes: "the yellow/gold variety", (20) LowCat, (21) Kampfer, (22) fleahound (p: 3, k: 2), (23) Cornuta, (24) Moomoo, (25) Reginator, (26) shadowcat, (27) ariefputranto (k: 11), (28) crazylegs, (29) judeblackburn, (30) oliv67 (k: 5), (31) Caracal, (32) amt4470, (33) jprp, (34) danny.450, (35) weeb, who also notes: "Bought misidentified and severely beat up from LFS, currently living with small, peaceful community fish while it begins its recovery.", (36) fuzzytigerbird (p: 2), (37) diane (p: 2), (38) WoonyFishMan, (39) Tony, (40) Bijn, (41) cichlidman16yearsold (k: 43), (42) Miss Dib Dabs, (43) andywoolloo, (44) aquaoahu, (45) FunkyFredFrog, (46) arapaimag (k: 4), (47) rommer (k: 2), (48) TheCichlidKid15, (49) 2poc, (50) anthonyking, (51) Mcjlance, (52) clydeboy, who also notes: "Seems to have settled in fairly well, shows at feeding time and is at home under loads of bogwood.", (53) l114, (54) slayer5590, (55) lasteeves, (56) mikey, (57) BernieEcht (p: 2, k: 2), (58) sterna, who also notes: "This specimen was bought in 1986, I'm the second owner.", (59) Brisch, (60) naturalart, who also notes: "Purchased at 45mm, eats everything, somewhat shy", (61) m1ke715m, (62) CatfishPownage63, (63) corybreed.

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Breeding Reports

None.

Articles