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Danny Blundell (1) Hippocampus Bildarchiv (5) David Mashall (2) Serge Mevellec (1) John P. Sullivan (1)

A good identification factor is the tip of the humeral process being adorned with spines which makes it look ragged looking. The last thumbnail image shows this trait. This is a good identifier for this species. Aquarium Care: This is quite an aggressive Syno and can grow quite large. Its certainly not in the same league as S. schall but never the less still a bit of a 'grump' when housed, especially with its own kind. A better environment for it would be with large Cichlids and even a Lake Tanganyika tank setup would do fine as S. acanthomias is very tolerant of different water conditions and so a higher p.H. factor would not faze it too much. If housed with other Synodontis I would give it a large tank (4ft or above) and give them plenty of shelter from each other and then monitor them to see how they will interact with one another. I find it to be a trial and error in keeping Syno's together, some get on fine, while others will not tolerate a certain species/individual, so watch for a few days when introducing, and have another tank ready if you are spotting any problems. Diet: Will eat any foods given to your other tank inhabitants and will also take flakefood that floats to the botom. Feed also tablet foods and frozen bloodworm which they find a favourite. Some form of vegetable content would also help to keep this "Syno" in tiptop condition.

Black-Spotted Synodontis

Synodontis omias, Synodontis depauwi, Synodontis pfefferi.

Mochokidae

Africa: Congo Dem Rep. Type locality: Boma et Léopoldville.

30.5cm. (12¼ins)

22-24°C (72-75°F)

6.5-8.0.

ScotCat Factsheet: no. 75; Sept. 2002.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.