Synodontis granulosus

[slayer5590]

Does anyone know if they were bred in England this year? I have a line on one that the seller says was bred in England. He says it's about 1.5" - 2 " long so I would think it was hatched this year. It looks like the real deal but I would rather not drop $200 on a hybrid.

[Viktor Jarikov]

I've heard Neal and Co at Pier bred them (and that's the only known and trustworthy spawn in captivity, no?) but as to when and how many times, IDK. The time I remember I think was last year. I hope more knowledgeable colleagues will chime in.

[Birger]

I think names are being mistakenly jumbled around... Neil and Peter hardy of hardy's aquatics in surrey are the ones that have been spawning these in the UK. (in the past, not sure about recently) A forum search would bring up some information on this. I did have a chat with them when I was in the UK in 2012...(wow already been a couple years) When I was there it seemed every store had one or two at 3 or 4 inches.

@Richard B would probably have a better idea what is going on with these recently within the UK.

It is prudent to be aware of hybrid possibilities.

Birger

[pleconut]

I did see one for sale on my LFS travels today and in my opinion at a really good quality catfish specialist retailer the fish were awesome it was in Dorset if it's anywhere near you I can give you the details.

[Richard B]

As far as I'm aware there are only 2 confirmed sources of captive bred Granulosus worldwide & the only UK source is NHA (Neil Hardy: a wholesaler).(The other is in the USA). NHA supply many UK shops like Maidenhead branches etc. Lots of these retailers sell them at quite an expensive price - therefore if its cheap, it's a hybrid, if it's expensive it COULD be genuine - post a photo here for a confirmed ID

[pleconut]

Going over again next week so will find out more and get a pick for you and post here.

[slayer5590]

The fish in question is in the U.S. I have a link to the sellers site I think.
http://trinsfish.com/synodontis-granulosus-catfish/

[pleconut]

I'll check with them if they have used this supplier if not as you said you don't want to fork out on what may be a hybrid.

[pleconut]

Hi slayer5590 ive phoned up the retailer just now to check up on their current full stocklist of synodontis. They said they had the most usuals like eupturus angelicas, petricolas, multipunctatus, and a few hybrids but didn't specify hybrids of what exactly the one I saw may have been hybridised with something else but at least they were honest. They said they get all their synos from the Czech Republic. I can give details of the retailer if you want to make further enquires or you may want to leave it and look elsewhere.

[Richard B]

The fish in question is in the U.S. I have a link to the sellers site I think.
http://trinsfish.com/synodontis-granulosus-catfish/

These are hybrid fish - the leading hard edge of the pectorals is white - granulosus do not have this!

These are really accurate hybrids apart from the feature above - if they come from Czech then there is a very high chance they are hybrids as that's where a lot (majority?) come from

[pleconut]

The guy did say they had white edged fins glad I've had this confirmation. Thank you.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thought for posterity I'd post the pics before they are gone from the site:

(A small link collection of more or less recent granulosa ID woes I dug up http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... ix.653285/ )

[slayer5590]

thank you guys

[Long Barbels]

FWIW - I personally know these were imported (25 of them) from a breeder in the UK. Trin acquired 6 I believe.

Long Barbels

[Richard B]

If imported from the UK it's likely they were from NHA who do the genuine breeding of granulosus. They should have rear finnage that is white but not the leading edge - see the f1 photos in cat-e-log for comparison (photo 15 & 16)

[Long Barbels]

If imported from the UK it's likely they were from NHA who do the genuine breeding of granulosus. They should have rear finnage that is white but not the leading edge - see the f1 photos in cat-e-log for comparison (photo 15 & 16)

I just had communication with Trin and also with importer. He assures me these are the real deal. Trin tells me that the photo is one she took when they first came in last summer. However both she and I can not see any white on leading edges of pectoral fin of the fish we both now have. Mine was the first one she received. Frankly I never looked at the color of leading edge when fish was received back in the summer. Is it possible that white edge only appears at a certain stage of juveniles and goes away as fish grows? If I were a photographer and had a small holding tank to get a good picture I would post to show the black edge. My fish has darkened and the spots seem to be less prominent. Growing nicely as it gets feed twice a day and 75% water change twice a week. Maybe Trin can take a new photo and put it on her site.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Richard did state when he first saw the pics that

... These are really accurate hybrids apart from the feature above (the leading hard edge of the pectorals is white)...