Synodontis eupterus spines

bslindgren · Post by **bslindgren** » 27 Jul 2007, 05:31

I removed my two S. eupterus yesterday with my wives help (they got a new home at a public display tank of 125 gallons). It was somewhat comical in that as soon as I had the first one in a plastic bag, the bag sprung a leak. It urned out that both pectoral spines had punctured the bag, and the fish was stuck. I switched transport container to an ice cream bucket, but in our attempts to free the fish, my wife got "stung" by one of the spines. She said it felt like a wasp sting (which I know exactly what they feel like since I got stung twice today!!). In the cat-eLog entry, it also says that it hurts like crazy to get pricked. This begs the question if they have venom glands associated with the spines. If so, is there risk for anaphylactic shock? Any records of such? If that is the case, this information should be stated by LFS's selling these fish. What about other Synodontis spp.?

Post by **Silurus** » 27 Jul 2007, 05:38

Mochokids are not known to have venom glands, nor do the morphology of their spines suggest that they do.