PlanetCatfish.com

This little fellow is about 7 to 8 inches long.
I don't think it's a Batesii but it's the closest thing I've found so far



Any thoughts greatfully appreicated

Sorry, I can't see your pics, but it's probably something on my side.

Have you considered S. afrofischeri? http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=413

That's what I though my S. batesii was before it was identified. If yours is 7-8" I doubt its a batseii.

Thanks but it ain't one of them S. afrofischeri things

Is anyone else having trouble seeing the pics ?

That's really odd. Sometimes I can view the picture, then all of a it sudden disappears
Anyway, I think S. batesii has a much smaller adipose. Could you provide a/some pictures of the head pls. I'd like to see it's mouth more closely.

PS: I could see 2 pix just now, but still don't have a good view of the mouth. Sorry.

I've only seen this twice before, but when fight, they leave scarring which looks just like your fish. The yellow head especially. The first time I saw this was before the time I carried a camera around, the second wasn't but it's not the same species as pictured here. I think it was .

I am not sure what this is but the colouration should be discounted.

Jools

I'll go and ask him to smile while I take a pic.
I hope he's feeling sociable

I've only seen this twice before, but when Synodontis fight, they leave scarring which looks just like your fish. The yellow head especially.

Perhaps this is a continuation of the lateral line erosion and loss of pigmentation sometimes seen in synos?

eg this post?

Jools

He does look very similar in shape to budgetti as you say but banana colour. Could that just be a genetic skin issue?
I'm at least glad that he's nothing too common because I've been looking for ages to find out what he is without any joy

Here's some more pics That I've jut taken

Racoll

That was an interesting article. Mine certainly has elements of white in him.

I don't know the history of my specimen but I did get him from a reputable supplier and I'm not sure where they got him. He's certainly been that colour since I got him last September

He's certainly not showing any signs of illness in fact he's the 1st to the top of the tank at feeding time and is generally very active and not at all shy.

I have never seen anything like that on Synodontis, but have a look at this Common Ancistrus:
http://www.goc.se/forum/viewtopic.php?t=798
It was normal-colored until it suddenly started changing into this.

Mike

Man aren't fish weird

Judging by some of these comments I have a strange fish

Yes, your fish is quite unusual. What's happening to your fish is that the ability to produce brown pigment, melanin, in the skin is partially impaired, but the yellow pigment remains. I don't know what might be causing it - scarring, a virus, nutrient deficiency, or perhaps more likely a hereditary disease.

Are there any fish pathologists in the house?

I don't think this is scarring or a virus

this is called "pie-bald" or OB (orange blotched), something more usual in Malawian Mbuna, but it happens in some catfish species as well.

There are Ancistrus sp 3, Clarias batrachus, Channel Cats, Red Tail Cats, Bull Heads etc wich can be Pie-bald.

congrats, you have a Piebald Syno. that's definitely rare. but I think the species is a fairly normal one; one of those big nigrita/obesus/robbianus lookalike. it has all the characteristics apart from the color.

Thanks for all the responses, apologies for replying sooner only I've just had a nasty bout of chicken pox thanks to my daughter.

Opinions seem to be quite varied on what he is, let alone why he's yellow.

Thanks again

From the overall morphological features of the fish, I'd say it's closest to S. resupinatus.