Synodontis Lucipinnis or Synodontis Petricola?

google it or go to fish base .com

Frigid Blue said:

Just bought two 1.5 inch synodontis cats yesterday labelled as "synodontis petricola". Both have a white trim around their fins, but apparently lucipinnis and petricola share similiar markings. Is there any way to identify which catfish I have, or do I need to wait till they get larger? :-? From what I've read, their growth rate is painfully slow.

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they are probably lucipinnis. True petricola are rare in the hobby. The former name of lucipinnis was dwarf petricola, and many sellers still go by the trade name petricola.

You could post a pic to be sure. There are some here who know there synos, but you could also try planetcatfish.com as some there will be able to tell you with nearly 100% certainty.

Its probably lucipinnis though.

As said, S. lucipinnis is much more common in the hobby, and are bred. You can find them for sale at less than 1".

Okay, I'll post a few pics once they are comfortable

Why does it matter? Just curious . . . both have simliar (identical) habits, looks, needs, etc.

And yes, growth is extremely slow . . .

Just wanted to know how large they will grow, when they'll mature, etc. I'm gonna have to wait before I take pics because it looks like they got scratched on coral or something on their sides... Can anyone list any differences while I wait for them to heal up a bit?

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=857

S. petricola and S. lucipinnis, are the only species with a solid white leading dorsal and pectoral fin ray and the spotted body pattern. S. petricola can be differentiated from S. lucipinnis by the former having smaller spots on the head than the body spots.

I have not found that differentiation to be helpful to me. A pic on planetcatfish will get you an answer within 24 hours. The differentiator I've seen is that lucipinnis have a light patch (like a window) at the base of their fins and petricola do not. But looking at the fish, that also is not obvious to me.

Synodontis have barbs on their sides and try to stab each other with them. The wounds tend to be on the sides...have you seen them fighting?

I have never seen marks on their sides, but my multies fight constantly and I do see scrape-like marks on the top of the fish, especially my elderly male.

I'm gonna have to wait before I take pics because it looks like they got scratched on coral or something on their sides...

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This happened with my lucipinnis all the time, I'd notice a mouth size scrape on the side of my various lucipinnis. Only one time, I noticed 2 fighting and one wrap its body around the other and attempt to bite right where I always found the marks, otherwise I'd have no idea what was causing them. Sometimes they would heal and go away, but, well, I used to have 6 and now I'm down to 1 over the past year. That injury on the side I can confirm killed 2 out of the 5 I lost, they tried to recover for a couple days before they gave up the fight. I didn't see the injury before the other 3 died, but I suspect it was the same injury that killed them quicker, like within a day while I was at work.

So, just warning you so you know what to look out for.

I haven't actually seen them fighting... They seem to be getting along fine, swimming around and schooling. (they love to stick close together) The wounds look like they're healing up, we'll have to wait and see. Was really pink and raw before, but its starting to turn to a light tan now.

By the way, are the different sized spots a reliable way to tell them apart? If thats the case, I most likely have petricolas :thumb: