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Tonight I went to the lfs and lo and behold they had another USD cat! As he was in the bag I noticed his head coloration was different than my others, but then I noticed his fern-like beard whiskers, so I didn't think anything of him. As he swam around my q-tank I was watching him, waiting for him to go upside-down, but he didn't and then I realized he didn't have the dark stomach that he should have.

So! Now I don't know what kind of syno I have. The back 2/3rds of him look like USD coloration with the brown and mottled black and white. His face is kind of tan with black speckles on it. The speckles are tiny on his face but get bigger as they go further down his body. He is very small, maybe 1.5" long and feisty. He has been chasing neons that are also in the q-tank, which worries me because I am hoping he will be something interesting that I can keep, but I also don't want to lose fish to him, as well, when he gets bigger. I tried looking at pictures in the Cat-eLog, but he doesn't really look like anything, but I'm thinking maybe it's because he is juvenile? So, any help in figuring out what kind of new syno buddy I now own would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The coloration you describe is seen in many juvenile Synodontis. I suspect you have S. nigrita, but only time will tell.

S. nigrita are vicious creatures!! mine nearly killed my australian catfish (Neosilurus gloveri). i had to give the australian catfish away as i didn't have enough tank space for the both of them. i couldn't find anyone that wanted the nigrita. now i sorely regret that decision

Oh, my gosh, did I just buy a killing machine?!

Last night I watched the little guy again right after I posted and he was upside-down under a leaf! That threw me off. *L* I noticed his eyes are smaller, too.

*sigh* Will a S. nigrita be a horrible thing (if he turns out to be this) in my community 55 tank? I don't want to take him back, because he's so cute, but if he doesn't fit well with the tank, I might have to.

Also, how is "synodontis" pronounced? Is the y a long I or a short I sound?

Alrighty, I was able to get a couple pictures of him this morning. I don't know if they will help since he is a juvenile, but it might so here they are:









He is so cute! I hope I'm able to keep him. He was hanging out underneath a round rock thing upside-down this morning (probably just to throw me off!).

see how he goes, he might be fine. keep an eye out for any fin nipping though! sounds like you have more than enough room for the other fish to hide if he does get a bit feisty.

Yes, there are lots of hiding spots in the tanks. Lots of plants and root-things and driftwood. So maybe he will work out. Would he chase/nip/eat tiger barbs, neons, cherry barbs, and/or danios? Those are/will be my mid-level swimming fish.

Edit: EEE! I just took a look in the Cat-eLog and noticed they will get to be 6" long?!

the cat-elog says they are fairly peaceful so you just have to wait to find out !!

btw it's "sin" odontis not "sigh" nodontis according to the cat-elog. i've always called them "sigh"nodontis though. well you learn something new everyday as they say.....

I guess I've seen accounts of these guys being both peaceful and aggressive now, so I'm really hoping he will be okay. I guess I feel a little better. Thanks a bunch for the info.

Oh, one more thing. In reading that they become more territorial with age, how old would that be? I'm not too worried since he's so young now, but are we talking a couple of years or what?

Yup, that looks like a young S. nigrita to me.

Okay, well, I'm glad he is accomodatable. He has the funniest demeanor. I was watching him at lunch and he has this one place in between a clay pot and the glass that he likes to squeeze into and watch me watch him. He's pretty funny. He seems really curious of me. His whiskers are awesome.

So, I guess my next question is that from Googling S. nigrita there are a huge amount of color/spot/stripe variation. Is this correct? When he grows up, will he look like a bigger version of himself or will his colors change? I am really very curious about him now, as it looks like I'll be keeping him and can handle the 6" length.

Will he hang out with the USD cats? Will I have to get a larger piece of driftwood for him to hang out under? The driftwood I have now is the juvie USD cat/pleco hang out. The cat-eLog said that he'll hang out in the open during the day, which will be nice. I'm still curious of the safety of neons and other small fish, though.

It'll likely grow up dark brown, with a few darker spots. Synodontis nigrita will leave smaller fishes alone, but don't take too kindly to other mochokids once they're established (I had one that made a beeline for a larger Hemisynodontis when it was introduced into the syno's tank).
YMMV of course, some individuals are more quarrelsome than others.

So is what you're saying that he will be okay with the three USD cats that are already in the tank because they are already established? He seems playful with the neons now. It doesn't seem like he's chasing them to be mean. He just chases them for a second and then goes back to making his exploring the tank. I can't wait to put him in the big tank and watch him go through everything!

Quick question: It might be my imagination, but it looks like my S. nigrita has blue eyes. Is this possible or just the lighting in my apartment?