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Does the synodontis aterrimus eat algae?

I doubt it would eat any algae at all. There is little info on , but not a lot. Unfortunately, no further info anywhere else that I could find right now.

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Mats

In my experience, virtually none at all.

if you need something to eat algae, Ancistrus sp 3 is your best bet. if you want to keep the aterrimus, a varied diet of frozen & dried foods would be best.

I don't need something that eats algae, I was just curious! Thank you!

Just curious but are any of these Syno's listed as S.Aterrimus truly that fish or hybrids ?

If you trust the shop, and they say it's wild-caught fish, then it should be OK. If it's captive bred fish, particularly if it's from the Czech republic, I would be most suspicious.

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Mats

I totally agree with MatsP last comments. There are genuine aterrimus available (certainly here in the uk) althogh not that often.

Hybrids are generally passed off as other individuals, mostly multipunctatus, petricola, granulosus & decorus or syno sp.

Is there any one pic that can truly depict an Aterrimus ? i always suspected that the fish in D.Sands book might be the nearest ? that particular fish was nowhere near as showy as the ones we see now ! and indeed i had a few years ago , in fact i actually won a best in show prize with one at a fish show ! and really looking back i have seriously doubted that it was a genuine fish , and not an Hybrid !

I am by no means an expert but the photo in Sands Catfishes of the World Vol 2 is a different species to the one in cat-e-log imho.

Which is the genuine one, i couldn't say - i would guess the one depicted by Sands as it has a dark ventral surface & is seen inverting - certainly the ones i believe to be genuine have looked more like this one.

The Aqualog Photo Colection of African Catfish shows one that matches the Cat-eLog...has brighter colors and maybe is a younger fish but everything looks the same

In the Atlas of Freshwater and Marine Catfishes it has one different than the Cat-eLog...It is not a real great photo for identification purposes finer pattern and smaller dorsal but does look to be a mature fish...to me it looks to be a different fish

Revision Des Synodontis Africains closely matches the photo's shown in the Cat-elog (as is shown by the one drawing in the Cat-eLog) all three drawings lead to this conclusion

I can not reference back to the Sands book as I do not have it

Birger

Very interesting , thanks for the input , my opinion really is that Aterrimus is a bit enigmatic to say the least , and unless a fish is proven to be a wild specimen , then perhaps the jury is still out on this fish ?

The aqualog fish matches cat-e-log -agreed

The atlas of freshwater & marine catfishes showa (imho) s.schoutedeni labelled as aterrimus.

The fish in sands catfishes of the world, vol 2 seems different again (the same fish is pictured inthe interpet guide to asian & african catfishes, again by sands)

The atlas of freshwater & marine catfishes showa (imho) s.schoutedeni labelled as aterrimus.

Agreed(I did say it was different )these have such variable pattern don't they

(the same fish is pictured inthe interpet guide to asian & african catfishes, again by sands)

Forgot about it but I have A Fishkeepers Guide to African & Asian Catfishes(salamander books) by Sands as well (same book,same cover...some reason the title is slightly different)
I am certainly no expert either but I am leaning toward this being the same as the Cat-eLog... the fish is much darker, the head very dark...due to being a much older fish IMO, but it still has the same basic pattern on the body just not so bright and contrasting...the real thing I am looking at is the very distinctive humeral process which is very similar to the aqualog and Cat-eLog photos and also when compared to the close up of the S.aterrimus humeral process photo in the back portion of Revision Des Synodontis Africains where they show close ups of these from many of the syno's.

EDIT-the fish in the (fishkeepers guide) book is not inverted... you say the one in your book(interpet guide) is

sorry jazz298 we kind of took over your thread

Birger

I think there seems to be to many different fish under the Aterrimus name to make a real claim !

Sorry Birger, i haven't been clear - the species in the interpet/salamander book shows an individual fish (whatever the species!) & it is not inverted, but the exact same individual from a series of photos that Sands took is shown inverted in Catfishes of the world.

This could be the same as the species in cat-e-log but personally i think it is a different one. I saw the Sands fish in his shop at 2" in size (TL) & watched it behave like a nigriventris or contractus - ie inverting 80% plus of the time.

i have additionally seen specimens of the cat-e-log type at the same size which was a bottom hugger with no inverting. The build was slimmer, the colours brighter, the pattern much more distinct.

The "Sands type" i have seen on odd occasions all behaving similarly to the intial sighting, the cat-e-log type is seen more often although neither that often.

I really think it would tke someone more knowledgeable than me to give a definitive answer, but this thread has sparked some really good discussion & i'd be interested in more peoples opinions

This could be the same as the species in cat-e-log but personally i think it is a different one. I saw the Sands fish in his shop at 2" in size (TL) & watched it behave like a nigriventris or contractus - ie inverting 80% plus of the time.

i have additionally seen specimens of the cat-e-log type at the same size which was a bottom hugger with no inverting. The build was slimmer, the colours brighter, the pattern much more distinct.

The "Sands type" i have seen on odd occasions all behaving similarly to the intial sighting, the cat-e-log type is seen more often although neither that often.

Okay ...behavioral differences thats convincing...unfortunately I do not see much of a variety in syno's around here...if I saw some of these around here I would have to snap them up

I really think it would tke someone more knowledgeable than me to give a definitive answer, but this thread has sparked some really good discussion & i'd be interested in more peoples opinions

I think knowledgeable people on this may be few and far between(of course there is HH) there must be a lot of information in french I just can't decipher it very well.
Lets keep having these discussions...I do not mind being wrong sometimes

Birger

Hello All

I'm not convinced that the fish in the Cat e log is aterrimus,. It is possibly a hybrid. I have colour images (which I can't share) of three of the type specimens. There are similarities with the fish on Cat e log, with regards the the size and shape of the adipose fin, a similar 'humeral process', but the types look more of a browner colour rather than greyish (although I know preservation can alter colour). Also, the body in the types look deeper in proportion.

The images were published (albeit miscaptioned by the editor) in an article i did called "Synodontis sp. "zebrinus" (Siluriformes: Mochokidae)" in BSSW Report 3/2003, pages 16-24. The article also included images of young and adult sp. "zebrinus" (hybrid), live ornatapinnis, holotype of koensis, holotype of tourei, holotype of schoutedeni, live robertsi, three comoensis type specimens, and holotype of serpentis.