SCOTCAT.COM  

Allan James (1) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (1) Everet Van Ammelrooy (1)

From the recent scientific paper by Wright, J.J. and L.M. Page. (2006) this species is very much like S. multipunctatus. The diagnosis for both species is virtually identical and the main differences concern the larger eye in S. grandiops, fewer fin rays in the dorsal and pectoral fins, and also the much smaller adult size. It is quite difficult to differentiate between the two species from pictures and if you can count the fin rays (ii,7 in S. grandiops and ii,8 in S. multipunctata) in living animals that is a much better bet. Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7 - 7; Anal spines: 3 - 4; Anal soft rays: 6 - 8; Vertebrae: 34. Body is compressed laterally, with a convex predorsal profile, interrupted by a ridge formed by dorsal rim of eye; head somewhat depressed. Eye dorsolateral, ovoid, its diameter 64.2-81.0 % of snout length. Mandibular teeth 17-26, short and unicuspid, arranged in a single transverse row. Maxillary barbel without basal membrane, lacking branches or crenelations, and extending at least to base of pectoral fin; lateral mandibular barbel extending to point just short of anterior margin of pectoral girdle, with 4-5 non-tuberculate branches, lacking secondary branches; medial mandibular barbel 1/2 to 2/3 length of lateral barbel, with 4-5 pairs non-tuberculate branches, lacking secondary branches. Dorsal fin spine long, striated, nearly straight, terminating in short, white filament; anterior margin of fin spine with 0-3 small serrations distally; posterior margin with small serrations distally. Pectoral fin spine roughly equal in length to dorsal fin spine, striated, slightly curved, terminating in short, white filament; anterior spine margin with many small, antrorse serrations; posterior margin with large, retrorse serrations along entire length. Adipose fin short, poorly developed, margin convex. Body with large spots, fin spines brown to black. Aquarium Care: As per species from Lake Tanganyika i.e. S. multipunctatus. Etymology: grandis: from the Latin meaning large or big, and ops meaning eye, a reference to the large eye. Remarks: In the latest paper by Gernot K Englmaier et al. 2024 S. grandiops is now being treated as a junior synoynm of S. multipunctatus.

None

None

Mochokidae

Africa: Lake Tanganyika, from the Tanzanian north-east side of the lake.

11.0cm. (4½ins)

21-25°C (69-77°F)

7.5-8.2.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (07/2010).
Gernot K Englmaier, Radim Blažek, Holger Zimmermann, Veronika Bartáková, Matej Polacik, Jakub Žák, Deogratias P Mulokozi, Cyprian Katongo, Heinz H Büscher, Lwabanya Mabo, Stephan Koblmüller, Anja Palandacic, Martin Reichard, Revised taxonomy of Synodontis catfishes (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) from the Lake Tanganyika basin reveals lower species diversity than expected, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 202, Issue 3, November 2024, zlae130.
Wright, J.J. and L.M. Page. 2006 Taxonomic revision of Lake Taganyikan Synodontis (Siluriformes:  Mochokidae). Florida Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull. 46(4):99-154.