Synodontis njassae?

[The.Dark.One]

These belong to a friend of mine. I understand they are wild caught from a Rift Lake specialist importer. They vary in terms of how spotted and streamlined they are. The barbels don't seem 100% right for

Synodontis njassae

[Richard B]

These 2 individuals (i take it pic 2 & 3 are the same fish) are not typical of any of the regular 'variations' of wild fish under the njassae tag. That said, it is stated they are wild caught & i think i can guess who has supplied them & if im right, i believe his fish are all genuine w/c unless stated otherwise . There is something about them that does look odd but im wondering if they have been captured from an area of the lake that is not a normal collection locale & its a regional varient?

I might summise that malawi synos are in a lesser position than tanganyikan ones were before the revision paper at the end of '06 which described lucipinnis, irsacae, etc. That is to say, without DNA testing etc we hobbyists can only really speculate

[The.Dark.One]

The owner is on holiday but I'll message him and ask whether they are definitely wild caught

[The.Dark.One]

He has confirmed that these were sold as wild fish.

[Birger]

They seem real to me, the second has a rather unique spot pattern.

Birger

[The.Dark.One]

I'll try and get some pics of the other specimens

[The.Dark.One]

Apparently they were imported as 'njassae Gold'. They sometimes exhibit a slight gold sheen.

[Richard B]

I'm certain these are a genuine species if not absolutely typical of the majority of fish labelled njassae.

FWIW, my opinion is there is too much that is unknown about Malawian synos. That is, is there a single, highly variable species? Are there undescribed species or is this just speculation on our ( my) part? I just don't have the facts or knowledge to contribute more.

[The.Dark.One]

Well lets hope they get the same study that the Tanganyikan's got and then we should know.

[unblinded]

Well lets hope they get the same study that the Tanganyikan's got and then we should know.

Hopefully this comes sooner rather than later.

I'm certain these are a genuine species if not absolutely typical of the majority of fish labelled njassae.

FWIW, my opinion is there is too much that is unknown about Malawian synos. That is, is there a single, highly variable species? Are there undescribed species or is this just speculation on our ( my) part? I just don't have the facts or knowledge to contribute more.

I agree with your speculations. If Lake Tanganyika has so many different Synodontis it seems only reasonable that Lake Malawi has more than the 1 or 2 described.