Syno hybrid ID

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Otolith

Otolith

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2009
538
12
48
Louisiana
I bought these two guys from a Petsmart in Louisiana like a year ago as a limited time item. Syno eurpterus x...... syno.... J something. I forget what they were labeled as. They don't really look that similar to each other either. The smaller one lacks a high dorsal and is more black with white. Anyone else buy some of these and recall the cross? anyone tell me about maybe breeding them? I kick myself for only getting two as they don't carry them anymore and I have never seen them anywhere else.
4v00hk.jpg


two in foreground:
bhlh03.jpg
 
Nice collection of synos.

The two you started with are both hybrids IMO: one is likely a euptera x decora, the other has a brichardi or ornatipinnis or something like that in the heritage.

(The one down below with the clear nice dorsal extension must be indeed a true decora).

Syno is a huge genus: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=29#2992 It lists some common hybrids too. I'd suggest looking through and seeing which resemble your synos the most. Reading the datasheets is always helpful, which also contain links to FishBase etc.

Hybrid synos are usually sterile or so it is often professed. I personally would not even attempt to breed them - there is plenty of purebred synos to try that with and I, as most other serious hobbyists, strongly dislike the idea of hybridizing non-food fishes. It pollutes the hobby (in the worse meaning of this word).

Here is a sample of good quality reading on hybrid synos: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=28659

It is a fire-hot topic for some animal activists/extremists and animal-rights people, so beware.

I am surprised you say they are scarce in your neck of the woods. They seems to be everywhere I go. For every pure syno I see, I meet 2 hybrids at any given LFS.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I didn't know that the hybrids would be sterile. Figured since they were so close genetically they would produce viable eggs. Main reason I wanted to breed them is one of my friends is always harassing me to sell them to him lol. I didn't realize it was such a heated debate. Very skeevie of people trying to pass them off as pure, more rare species.
I'll try get some better pics of the possible decora, it is hard getting real clear pictures of them in the tank except of their faces as they inevitably all come and face the glass trying to figure out what I am doing. :D Also I had them on black sand during some of the pics and darkened everyone up. The mutt is actually my favorite one. heh.
 
O: ...I didn't know that the hybrids would be sterile. Figured since they were so close genetically they would produce viable eggs.
T: Horses and donkeys are close. Mules are sterile.

O: Main reason I wanted to breed them is one of my friends is always harassing me to sell them to him lol.
T: That's funny indeed. I still don't get it: Petcos, Petsmarts, Petlands, PetWorlds, and every big box pet store, and Mom and Pop stores, and hardcore fish stores carry syno hybrids. I believe you; don't get me wrong. One can buy them on-line all day long too at $5 a piece - offer your friend to look them up on the i-net. Given all this, may I suggest that your friend perhaps harbors a hidden agenda :) ?

O: I'll try get some better pics of the possible decora,
T: The first pic is of true decora too - it has a dorsal extension and branched maxillary barbels (only a few synos have branches on the maxillary barbels but almost all of them have branches on the mandibular barbels). It lacks clear stripes in the dorsal though, which I find unusual. Both dorsal and caudal fins must have stripes in a decora, not spots.

O: ...it is hard getting real clear pictures of them in the tank except of their faces as they inevitably all come and face the glass trying to figure out what I am doing.
T: that's cute :)

O: Also I had them on black sand during some of the pics and darkened everyone up.
T: Thanks for confirming that. They are quite dark.

O: The mutt is actually my favorite one. heh.
T: well, of course :)

If you really want to firm up all the IDs on your synos, I'd suggest doing it on PlanetCatfish site with good photos. You will get top-notch advice.

Here are some of my synos: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30939&hilit=+120+gal
 
Apparently S. decora can be identified just by the 3 out of 4 common pointers: branched maxillary barbels + dorsal extension + stripey caudal = purebred decora... which implies that the lack of stripes in the dorsal is not all that important.

Here is another case of a decora that mirrors your case exactly in all 4 features in question: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36165&p=252628#p252628

Even though, many would say the dorsal must be striped, these two cases argue against that.
 
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