Synodontis Njassae

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Tjoa
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Synodontis Njassae

Post by Tjoa »

So, does anyone have pics of a confirmed Njassae?
From my understanding theyre hard to get a hold on AND expencive if you find one.
Im in Norway and was at my local petshop where Im to order a bunch of fish and already got the list of Synos they could get in for me. Njassae was not on that list.
Now, when I cam in yesterday they had 5 Synos marked as Njassae and Im in need of some snaile aters before my aquarium is impossible to look in to due to the snail party in there.
I bought the "Njassaes" for only about 10$ (very young/ small tho) and when I got them in they started eating the snails! Win!
But then I got on here to read about them and came over posts that most are hybrids etc.. my aquarium is biiig so to get a pic of those small babys is impossible atm but is there some way I can be absolutely sure they are Njassaes or not? And do some have pics to share of their confirmed Njassaes?

Also, does their mustache signify to only Njassaes? Like the feathery mustache? I looked up the breed in here and from the pics on the site they look veeery similar but you know..
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bekateen
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by bekateen »

Hi Tjoa,

Welcome to PlanetCatfish!

In response to your question about photos of authentic , I did some research and found a 2019 publication with two photos of wild caught fish. I've added them to our CLOG page, HERE and HERE (also shown below). You'll see they are the first two photos of the species.

I hope that helps.

Cheers, Eric

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Tjoa
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by Tjoa »

Thank you Eric!
Both for the welcome and for the pics!

I will download the pics and keep for when they get bigger, maybe it will be easyer to compare then 🤔
Now they are new in my aquarium (only share with three guppys wich really are just test fish when I started up my aquarium and water samples was stable and will stay as live food for the future fish Im having), have found theyr spot and are only night active + ofc very small so its hard to see any significant signs to wich sub species they might be!

From what I understand tho Njassaes have a longer body then other Synos and smaller top fins?
Also is colour a set colour or might they vary? Like your pics, they look more soft brown ish but for now mine is grey with spots ofc and that (thr base colour) might change as they grow..?
I do see they have spots on all their fins and not stripes, this I saw was pointed out in a post about one that came out as a possible hybrid cus Njassea suposedly only have spotted fins. And also theres a big spot varity and small spot varity.
This is the only things I do know of how they should look.

Mine has small spots but again, the Synos are very small so the spots might get bigger as the fish grow?

And I see most of the pages Ive read about them are old so maybe the species is more popular in the hobby now, cheaper and easyer to get?

I know my local petstore has a guy working there that is really interested in this hobby, he was the one finding out alle subspecieses of the fish I want wich he can get. Again, Njassae was not on that list but if these still are rare then I can totally understand he has jumped on the opertunity and got them in. They usually dont get in fish out of the ordinary selling fish cus they cant get stuck with fish like this but he has me as a customer and is very into it himself and that might be why they suddenly turned up in the store. That is if theyre really Njassaes at all! 😂 But Synos I dont think are that good selling fish in Norway. People tend to want the colourful small fishies.
Tjoa
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by Tjoa »

bekateen wrote: 02 Sep 2022, 21:12 Hi Tjoa,

Welcome to PlanetCatfish!

In response to your question about photos of authentic , I did some research and found a 2019 publication with two photos of wild caught fish. I've added them to our CLOG page, HERE and HERE (also shown below). You'll see they are the first two photos of the species.

I hope that helps.

Cheers, Eric

Image
Image
They also look kinda Dolphin shaped. Is this the elongated body people say is spesific to the Njassaes? When you look up Synos in general on google most of thr look more kind of bulky?
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by bekateen »

Tjoa wrote: 03 Sep 2022, 06:58From what I understand tho Njassaes have a longer body then other Synos and smaller top fins?
Also is colour a set colour or might they vary? Like your pics, they look more soft brown ish but for now mine is grey with spots ofc and that (thr base colour) might change as they grow..?

Mine has small spots but again, the Synos are very small so the spots might get bigger as the fish grow?

And I see most of the pages Ive read about them are old so maybe the species is more popular in the hobby now, cheaper and easyer to get?
Tjoa wrote: 03 Sep 2022, 07:30They also look kinda Dolphin shaped. Is this the elongated body people say is spesific to the Njassaes? When you look up Synos in general on google most of thr look more kind of bulky?
To your questing about spots and coloration, I don't know how they will change with growth, but I expect they will change as the fish grows.

Regarding body shape and length, there are other narrow, elongate Synodontis species, so the body shape is not exclusive to S. njassae. However, I've read a generalization that the long narrow body is more typical of riverine species and the heavy body is more typical of lake species. So in that sense, S. njassae, a species found in Lake Malawi and surrounding area, does not fit that stereotype.

Cheers, Eric
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Tjoa
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by Tjoa »

bekateen wrote: 03 Sep 2022, 17:20
Tjoa wrote: 03 Sep 2022, 06:58From what I understand tho Njassaes have a longer body then other Synos and smaller top fins?
Also is colour a set colour or might they vary? Like your pics, they look more soft brown ish but for now mine is grey with spots ofc and that (thr base colour) might change as they grow..?

Mine has small spots but again, the Synos are very small so the spots might get bigger as the fish grow?

And I see most of the pages Ive read about them are old so maybe the species is more popular in the hobby now, cheaper and easyer to get?
Tjoa wrote: 03 Sep 2022, 07:30They also look kinda Dolphin shaped. Is this the elongated body people say is spesific to the Njassaes? When you look up Synos in general on google most of thr look more kind of bulky?
To your questing about spots and coloration, I don't know how they will change with growth, but I expect they will change as the fish grows.

Regarding body shape and length, there are other narrow, elongate Synodontis species, so the body shape is not exclusive to S. njassae. However, I've read a generalization that the long narrow body is more typical of riverine species and the heavy body is more typical of lake species. So in that sense, S. njassae, a species found in Lake Malawi and surrounding area, does not fit that stereotype.

Cheers, Eric
Ooohkaythen! I guess Ill just have to wait and see, as there are so many hybrids now (from what Ive read) it might never be something I can be sure of. The "Njassaes" in the store was same size and looked just alike so they must be siblings. But from what? Only the fish gods will know for sure.

If you dont mibd me asking tho! And ofc if you know a bit of the Synos wich you seem to do:

I am planning on getting quit a lot of different Synos, was thinking 2 x subspecies adding up to 7 species but now I have the "Njassaes" so 8 subspecies in total.
But I was suddenly concerned about hybrids. Is that a normal accurance?
Say I have all of those in the same tub. Is there a high or small possbility of hybrid offspring?
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bekateen
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by bekateen »

I am certainly no expert on Synos. I'll tag @Birger here. He might be able to give a better answer than I can.

Cheers, Eric
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by Shane »

At the genetic level we know several Syno spp. can be hybridized under lab conditions. There are at least nine hybrids that show up in the hobby and that number will likely only increase as unscrupulous breeders seek to "invent" new inventory.
However, genetically possible under lab conditions does not translate into something that happens in aquaria. With very few exceptions (mainly Tanganiyikan spp), natural Syno spawnings in captivity are still a pretty rare occurrence.
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Tjoa
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Re: Synodontis Njassae

Post by Tjoa »

Shane wrote: 04 Sep 2022, 12:17 At the genetic level we know several Syno spp. can be hybridized under lab conditions. There are at least nine hybrids that show up in the hobby and that number will likely only increase as unscrupulous breeders seek to "invent" new inventory.
However, genetically possible under lab conditions does not translate into something that happens in aquaria. With very few exceptions (mainly Tanganiyikan spp), natural Syno spawnings in captivity are still a pretty rare occurrence.
-Shane
Oooh thank you! That is such a relief! Was looking forward to get what I have set my mind on but wont contribute to something I dont necessary agree with. That beeing said I dont plan on breeding and selling. If it happens then cool but this is fish for me and my interest.
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