What is this Catfish?

[pufferfishi8]

i bought a catfish a few weeks ago, he was sold as a "black upside down cat", for about $4.00...he is about 2 1/2" long, jet black (almost like non reflective velvet), long whiskers. he is STRICTLY nocturnal, to a fault. i have never seen him swim upside down, in form and swimming style he is more like a shark cat, but lazy. lays around all day under some moss, unmoving. at night with a blue flashlight i watch him swim against the glass, never foraging or cleaning. i'm a little afraid i bought a catfish who needs his own shoal of buddies.
i originally had a vision of his dark silhouette cruising against my duckweed. silly me. should've gone with the butterfly fish.

[cacti]

sounds interesting, any photos? You may still be able to get a butterfly fish, ask people on this forum. I dont' know anything about butterfly fish. :)

[valerie]

You should look through the Synodontis species on www.planetcatfish.com

[catjo]

Probably the Asian Upside Down Cat, can't remember the scientific name and can't find the book that has it in there. Or it could be Brachysynodontis batensoda. Does it have really long whiskers (almost as long as the body?) Sorry I can't help more but if I find that book I can give you the other scientific name and you can check them out on Planet Catfish. Best of luck!

[pufferfishi8]

well its definately not Brachysynodontis batensoda, thanks though. his whiskers ARE as long as his body. i was trying to avoid an image by image search at planet cat...any guess will be checked out, i'd like to id him soon so i know i'm providing right for him.

[Darkangel]

Where are the barbells located? Above, beside, or below the mouth. How many barbels are there? Are the barbells branched at all? Is the tail deeply forked, mildly or not at all? More description would be better for an easier ID.

[catjo]

I still think the Asian Upside Down Cat is your best bet. You might try that common name on PC. I found my book but the name given is outdated and I can't think of the valid name. The old name is Heterobagrus. Somebody help me out here. If it is, you have a nice fish there. They used to be rather common but aren't seen near as much as they used to be. If you find it let me know, I'm interested in the valid name and if it IS your fish. If I have time later I'll try to find it also. Seem likes the new name starts with an "L" but don't hold me to that. I know I'm not much help but I do think I know what fish you have, just not smart enough to pull the name out of my foggy head :)

[catjo]

OK Puffer,

I went and looked cause it was driving me crazy!!! Try Mystus leucophasis-Asian Upside Down Cat. Hope that fits the bill for you and PLEASE let me know as I'm going nuts trying to think.

[ewok]

it's mystus something...... it has speckles tho and i have NEVER seen my asian "right side up", there is also another black version.... the giant or something........ not sure which this is. the little synos are mottled colors.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/bagridae/mystus/21_f.htm

sorry, couldn't find the reference to the giant.......

[pufferfishi8]

thanks everyone...mystus leucophasis is the closest looking picture so far, and even some of those are iffy. 6 barbels (2 short pointing directly down below mouth) in common, also the "speckles" which i had mistaken for possible injuries from a paradise fish, which resemble a few abberant scales on its side.
watched him again last night, never swims upside down, seems less active too, i am nervous he isn't doing so hot. perhaps low water temp is knocking him out (73), otherwise water parameters are ok.
somehow i dont think i'm blessed with a mutant upside down who swims rightside.
has anyone else had this problem?

[big mo tro cat]

sounds like a deal for 4 bucks. i got mine for 5 because the girl who bagged it tagged it as a different fish. ive heard that they can turn right side up permanently depending on what you feed it. mines seems to like floating flakes so its still upside down. if you feed yours pellets or it was previously trained to eat pellets, thats what may have caused it.

[biggisteve]

I had the same thing happen, i bought aa thing that said upside down cat
and two years later its grown into a beautiful large sydontis eruptis i believe, bought him for 4 dollars saw the saem fish in the same store much larger for 25 dollars so
maybe you'd give the eruptis a look

[J Flare]

Your description matches an upside down catfish that I recently adopted - very dark solid color, 6 barbels including 2 on the nose, and no scales. It took me several days of searching the web to identify it as an Asian upside down catfish. However I was tipped off towards Mystus leucophasis by its description on PlanetCatfish of being beautiful and vicious. As for the health of your cat, I had noticed white spots on the sides of mine when I adopted him which turned out to be ich. I am a new aquarium owner, and as such have not dealt with fish diagnosis before, but I was remembering you mentioning the spots on the cat's side, and for what I've read, these cats don't develop spots until they grow older (mine is ~2 in.). Also, as a word of caution, as I mentioned earlier, these cats can be vicious. Be careful about what kinds of fish you put with this cat, as they will eat just about anything that is 3/4 their own size. When I adopted my cat, I put him in with my beta (my only other fish) and have since had to separate them in order to protect my beta. My cat would chase my beta and nip at his pretty tail, needless to say the beta would try to keep his distance - and they are essentially the same size!

[Lupin]

Thanks for the information, J Flare.:) As this was made 6 years ago, it's already old. If you can come up with an article for that Mystus, we will gladly appreciate your contribution for our Article Corner.:D

Any questions, please feel free to PM me or one of the other moderators.