# Syno Question



## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

I had been wanting a syno lucipinnis or any of the ones that grow 4-6 inches to add to my hap tank, but they never seem to have any at the fish stores here. Then a couple days ago I finally saw some that were about $16, so I got one. They were labeled as synodontis longirostris. I wasnt familiar with these but my urge to have one was greater. So I did some research and it says that they can grow to 20 inches. But now I am thinking it is not a longirostris because mine looks quite different from the ones that appear on other websites: www.scotcat.com/mochokidae/s_longirostris1.htm

This is a pic of mine:










Is he a longirostrus or not?


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

no, he looks like a hybrid to me, usually when the main spine in the dorsal is bent it means hybrid, and if i had to guess i would say an Occelifer Eupterus hybrid.


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

Wow I didnt know the bent spine meant they were hybrid. I read that Eupterus get 6-8 inches but found that the occelifer ranges from 6-20 inches. Mine is about 4 inches right now. How big is he most likely to get?


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

Anyone have an idea?


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Did you by any chance get him at petsmart? 
supposedly they are selling hybrids that resemble Synodontis ocellifer labeled as longiros. but ????


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

Yeah I got him at petsmart and he was labeled as growing 6 inches max :lol:


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

I got my a few of mine there also, the biggest is onl;y around 6 inches so far, but I'm not sure if he's done yet. I think they may be occies, just mislabeled. But I've seen a few threads about them being hybrids. I love mine, but it's worth the extra $5 to know what you're getting :wink:


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

I like mine too, dont really care if he's hybrid. Hopefully they wont get too big. I just wanted to get more info on size. Thanks


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## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

I concur on the ocellifer-euptera hybridization. I would think it would top out at about 8''... I have a full grown ocellifer of about that size, and euptera is close to that.

The pictures of S. longirostris on http://www.planetcatfish.com indicate to me that the species has a more elongated body, a grayish base color (as opposed to the olive-greenish color I say the base color of ocellifer is), and pronounced "snout," hence the species name "longirostris." I've never kept this species, so this is mostly just observations gleaned from their photos.

I absolutely love my ocellifer, had it for about 12 years or so now... take good care of your little one, and it'll be with you a long time!

Good luck! :thumb:


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

I knew the minute I saw the longirostris pics on google that mine wasn't that. He is indeed quite different. I'm glad though that I now know he won't get to a humongous size. Thanks everyone.


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## SandSea (Aug 30, 2006)

same thing here jenny. i just 2 hours ago brought him home. mine looks a lot like the feather fins. it was labeled synodontis longistrUS" with a "US" at the ending. they said 6 inches, i see if it's really the longis.. then it could get to be two feet long. ridiculously too big for my needs. i only wanted one guy to clean up after my messy jack dempsey! i hate to take him back, but i just may have to.


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## jennye0 (May 27, 2008)

I dont think you'd have to take him back (unless you dont like hybrids) because I doubt they are really longirostris, they look very different. I kept mine and he is doing great, cleaning up after the whole aquarium


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