Upside Down Catfish

celaeno · Jan 7, 2009

last night, i noticed a white slit below each of my 4 upside down catfish's pelvic fins. it moves with the fish's gills. is this normal and nothing to be concerned about? the usd cats are about 2.5" now and they're synodontis nigriventris.

SharonCC · Jan 7, 2009

Don't worry...it's normal...

nosoup4you · Jan 7, 2009

Yes, perfectly normal...

celaeno · Jan 7, 2009

what function does it serve?

nosoup4you · Jan 7, 2009

To be honest, I'm not sure. I just know that I've seen what you describe many times. lol

Ficious · Jan 7, 2009

just fyi my USD cat grew VERY quickly...im talking almost an inch in a month. while he was growing he was also eating my white clouds and zebra danios...i noticed you had some in there with yours. 2.5 inches is still too small i think and mine was about 3 when i got him...hes now pry 4.5 inches and its only been a couple months! what a pig

and idk what function that serves...i noticed that last night on my guy

shroob · Jan 7, 2009

Ficious said:
just fyi my USD cat grew VERY quickly...im talking almost an inch in a month. while he was growing he was also eating my white clouds and zebra danios...i noticed you had some in there with yours. 2.5 inches is still too small i think and mine was about 3 when i got him...hes now pry 4.5 inches and its only been a couple months! what a pig

and idk what function that serves...i noticed that last night on my guy

You might not have got a true upside down catfish, they are often mis-identified with Synodontis nigrita or Synodontis robbianus (both of which grow larger than the true upside down catfish Synodontis nigriventris) so might be worth looking into especially as S. nigriventris only grows to 4".

raptorrex · Jan 7, 2009

shroob said:
Ficious said:

just fyi my USD cat grew VERY quickly...im talking almost an inch in a month. while he was growing he was also eating my white clouds and zebra danios...i noticed you had some in there with yours. 2.5 inches is still too small i think and mine was about 3 when i got him...hes now pry 4.5 inches and its only been a couple months! what a pig

and idk what function that serves...i noticed that last night on my guy

Click to expand...

You might not have got a true upside down catfish, they are often mis-identified with Synodontis nigrita or Synodontis robbianus (both of which grow larger than the true upside down catfish Synodontis nigriventris) so might be worth looking into especially as S. nigriventris only grows to 4".

I would agree with this comment, bit fast for a true USD to grow. also, is seems to me, the USD is not known as a veracious hunter. mind you, none of these are!