View Full Version : Upside down Catfish with huge dorsal fin, What is it?
I am trying to identify my latest adoption. It is totally Black. Has all characteristics of a catfish. It has a massive Dorsal fin which looks like a sail. At night it swims on the surface upside down and filters or eats all floating matter. I have had no luck identifying it.
themadblimper
06-28-2006, 8:02 PM
A pictue of it would be nice. And how long is it?
It sounds like a false upside-down catfish.
plah831
06-29-2006, 7:22 PM
I have a couple true upside-down catfish and their dorsal fins are kind of large, with a spine-like first ray. I wouldn't call them huge, like a sail, though. They can change color from dark brown with white speckles, to a pale almost white when frightened or unsure. I don't know that true upside-down cats are ever black. My guys are darker on the belly and lighter on the back, reverse countershading. They prefer to swim upside down or hang upside down under surfaces, but will turn over to eat food on the bottom or sometimes when swimming. They also hide during the day, and come out an hour or so after lights out.
Check out this page for specifics on the two
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/default.aspx?pageid=264
loaches r cool
06-30-2006, 11:05 AM
I am not catfish expert but just thought I would add that many synodontis swim upside-down. Mine has turned mostly all black, although flash photo's make it look much lighter grey. It has a huge dorsal fin too, although not that visible in the photo. This fins though still show some of the orgianal dotting so its not all black.
http://tristan.homelinux.net/fish/lace2.JPG
plah831
06-30-2006, 3:58 PM
You're right. A look at FishBase.org revealed that many catfish of the genus Synodontis do indeed qualify as "upside-down catfish". Mine are the species S. nigriventris (which means "black belly").
If you could show us a picture, that would be great!
SynoSteff
07-05-2006, 12:35 PM
loaches r cool: Your pic looks like a Synodontis eupterus or featherfin cat. I have one in my tank and it hides in a very similar spot. Behind a log.
They are relatively common in the trade and are quite variable. So bboru, yours might be the same. They have the characteristic 'sail' like fin and it usually looks a bit frayed on the edges with flag like extensions on the end of the rays. Hence the feather like description. It may also, unfortunately, be a hyvrid species. Lots of hybrids are currently being pumped out of eastern europe and are being sold as 'true' synodontis. But as everyone says, a pic would be great.
It could also be S. nigrita, which as the name suggests, is black. Not sure if nigrita have the sail fin though. Hope this helps
Happy Fishkeeping