synodontis granulosa

by **taylor1410** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:22 am

How to tell the difference between the hybrid ones and the real ones.

by **racoll** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:34 am

Price. If it's cheap, it's a hybrid.

by **sidguppy** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:30 am

fins

ALL fins (except for the adipose) have to be jet black with a glowing white margin
even the tiny ventrals and the anal fin have to be colored that way

if some of the fins are not black and white, it's a fake

and don't fall for "they'll color up later", cause that's bollocks; even a tiny 1" granulosa already has those fins up colored.

by **MatsP** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:38 am

Why not post a photo?

--
Mats

by **Richard B** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:07 pm

see my avatar for a pic of a tiny one - even the UK bred ones are pricey depending where you go; i've seen them £95-£115 but they could be available a bit cheaper in some places. Beware a label that says granulosus sp as these seem to be hybrids all of the time

A pic paints a thousand words....

by **RickE** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:31 pm

Trimar is advertising a few 'True. English Bred' at £125

by **taylor1410** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:14 pm

Ive got to wait to find my camera and as soon as i do i will post a pic

by **Richard B** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:01 pm

RickE wrote:Trimar is advertising a few 'True. English Bred' at £125

They seem to have gone up £10 @ Trimar

by **MatsP** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 2:48 pm

As if someone was listening:
PFK article on S. granulosa

--
Mats

by **clydeboy** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:32 pm

Richard B wrote:
RickE wrote:Trimar is advertising a few 'True. English Bred' at £125

They seem to have gone up £10 @ Trimar

They were £125 when I phoned this morning (not to buy granny,for something else.......... but I can dream.)

Ian

by **Sandee** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:13 am

Comparison pix ... Yeah I fell for the "the fins will turn white" line.

by **taylor1410** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:28 pm

I have a few very bad pics but i think its not a hybrid

by **Jools** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:50 pm

On the fish in the bag, it doesn't have white barbles which is also an indicator.

Jools

by **taylor1410** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:54 pm

Jools wrote:On the fish in the bag, it doesn't have white barbles which is also an indicator.

Jools

I think it does i think that its just the light, will have to take some better pics once i get back home to see it

by **taylor1410** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:43 pm

Its whiskers are more of a dark grey, so im guessing that its a hybrid :((

by **Scleropages** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:48 pm

The color of the barbels is hard to tell in your latest pic. If anything, they don't look white to me. Your best bet would be to catch the fish, put it on a dark surface, and take some pics with the flash on. Alternatively, you could try to photograph it while it is hovering in front of the driftwood.

by **sidguppy** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:12 pm

I have seen granny's with dark barbels....
the fins look OK to me and spots do occur in young granny's.

but the mouth is odd......

it's far too wide for a granny, it looks like someone tried a polli-granny mix up.

the granulosa has the "regular" mouthshape like many riverines and also the multipunctata and grandiops
from below the mouth should look like a horseshoe and from above a pointed head with a rounded tip, not square.

it's not a member of the "polli-petricola-lucipinnis-dhonti" clade which all have wide square mouth to a degree.
from below these all have wide mouths and from above a blunt nose.

by **taylor1410** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:29 am

So basically it is a hybrid?

by **sidguppy** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:37 am

I'm not sure, but I fear it is

can you snap a picture from the side that shows the whole fish

also, a headshot -enlarged/zoomed in- that shows the head from the side, including the body piece just behind the head.

all Syno's have a pointy bone plate on the side, lying on the skin, just behind the gill.
it's just above the pectoral fin and it's called the humeral process.

this bony plate can be used as a "finger print", cause it has a different unique shape for each species

hybrids never have the same humeral process as the true species of the "elders", so the best way to see if a fish is a hybrid is by using this key

check this Synodontis multipunctata, the humeral is visible behind the head, just above the pectoral fin:

the humeral of another species, S acanthomias:

if you can take a pic where your fish shows this spike, we can be sure.

by **taylor1410** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:40 am

The camera i have is rubbish i will try my best, if i can get it into a glass bowl will that help me on getting a better picture..

Also try to have it on something that is dark so it will show the white up a bit more, i will take some pics now and try my best to get the shots from different angles