Grey with big black spots? Who is this chap?

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

Yesterday I adopted a couple of fish from a friend who quits his aquarium.
A big catfish came with the rest, a friendly giant chap. He swims slow and gracious and the former owner tells me he's 20 years old!!
He doesn't know the species, neither do I. I think he's 20 cm long (sorry I don't get the inches, I'm European
I've done my very best to take some clear pictures but this fellow loves to be in the shadow.
On his right side there is a white stripe, this does not belong on him, because his left side doesn't show the same stripe... can it be a scar? The former owner doesn't know what it is, he knows that the fish has had this stripe for a very long time. Looks like accidential scraped acryllic paint but it isn't.
It does not bother the fish but if maybe somebody has a clue then feel free to let me know!
I hope you can help me! I so want to give him his favorite food but then I need to know his species and homecountry first!

Thanks in advance
Angelique van Rijn
Den Haag / the Netherlands

[Silurus]

I think you have a very large

Synodontis ocellifer

.

[Viktor Jarikov]

EDIT: Silurus beat me, you can trust his ID.

Welcome to the Planet!

This is a synodontis, perhaps a hybrid but could be genuine like ocellifer. To my ignorant eye, more and better pics are needed, especially of the dorsal and caudal fins.

The genus is very large but, if willing, you can look through the species and see if you find matches (the more pics a species has, generally the more common they are in the trade - something to consider as you are loking too): http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/gen ... _id=29#121

The scar is a lateral line disease / erosion, most usually associated with an insufficient green matter in syno diet. Not lethal, but not right either.Can do a search on LLE on this forum.

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

Thanks guys! I hope this pic helps a bit more.
What is the age these guys can reach? His formal owner claims he's 20 years old, at least, he kept this fish for that long.
I'd love to keep him as long as possible so therefor I need to find out what kind of fish this is.
I've never had such a giant friendly character swimming in my tank, I'm happy with him!

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

I've just read the LLE stuff and damn you're right. I immediately threw in some spirulina algae tablets and he popped out and is munching like crazy....
So he's going on a green diet from now on. Thanks!!!

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

I've browsed all the pictures. He looks closest to Synodontis waterloti, but he is defenitely bigger then 141mm. I think he's 180mm.

[Silurus]

The adipose fin on your fish is too large for it to be waterloti.

[Viktor Jarikov]

I totally agree with Silurus' ID. You can rest assured it is an ocellifer. Please, note to the right the status - Silurus is an expert, in fact he is renown Doctor of Ichthyology, catfish taxonomy in particular, Dr. Heok Hee Ng.

The longest-lived synos we know here have been reported to live 20-30 years, see this thread if interested although this is mostly about a eupterus, a very similar, large, solitary, riverine syno: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 8&start=40 I'll add your thread to the list of links in there too.

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

Thanks so much for the information!
Now my goal is to get him better and treat the malnutrition.
I think he ate well from the spirulina and algae tabs last night. A cucumber is waiting for him for today.
The green beans are planned for tomorrow. He's already 20 years old so I sure wanna give him at least 10 years of a beautiful rich life while munching on the food he needs.
He already feels like he's in heaven being in a small tank for his entire life and now he finally has space to roam.

[Richard B]

I have to disagree with Ocellifer as the ID.

The adipose doesn't seem deep enough & the body spots look too prolific with some less rounded spots. Fully spotted Ocellifer (as opposed to spotless, partially spotted or ocellated variants) tend to have very rounded spots.

A good side on photo would help particularly showing the tail, adipose & humeral

I believe this is a hybrid - even PC cat-e-log has a pic of a hybrid listed as Ocellifer as far as I can tell

[Birger]

I believe this is a hybrid

not so sure on this, it is 20 or so years old. A mature ocellifer would have developed spots within its black spots, this one does not have that.
I can not ID without a better shot....


birger

[AngeliqueVanRijn]

I'll try and take some better pictures tonight when it's dark enough. It's a shy guy so I'm waiting for my lucky shot. This is an interesting discussion

[Viktor Jarikov]

There'd be no harm netting it but not taking out of the water, just to bring it to the front glass and take photos.

[N0body Of The Goat]

There'd be no harm netting it but not taking out of the water, just to bring it to the front glass and take photos.

Maybe its just me, but I always worry about bigger synos getting their pectoral fins in a right mess if netted (caught in the mesh badly)! I'm lucky that my S. notatus is good as gold, folding up those fins, but I really should get used to using pipes like I used to for my S. decorus.

The same goes for my Ctenopoma trio, their gill plate spines can get horribly jammed, really stressing them and me out. These days, I use a colander-like kitchenware device with its solid base to trap them against the tank wall and then use I plastic lid to replace the glass as I lift it all out.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Valid concerns imho. Few things are fool proof.