Breeding the

Breeding the "Cuckoo Cat", Synodontis multipunctatus

by Tom Rizzo

Believe it or not I started to write this article last July of “05. In a 55-gallon tank, I had put together
a small group of four Synodontis Multipunctatus. With these cats I had a school of Metriaclima Esterae
(red zebras), about 11 fish, at least 6 were female. On June19,I noticed the smallest Zebra female holding a
mouthful of eggs. After 2 weeks I moved her to a 10 gallon tank alone to release the fry when she was ready.
On July the 9th I noticed she wasn’t hiding and swimming all around looking for food. So I fed her and moved
her back to the tank she came from. Under a rock moved I saw two small S.Multipuctatus hiding in the gravel.
Within the next few months I had dozens of Zebra spawns that all resulted in baby Red Zebras. I
had so many I was using them as feeders for my other fish (sorry),but no more cats. Weeks later I decided I
would look for a new host mouthbrooding cichlid. So I got rid of the Zebras and purchased a group of Haplochromis
sp.”flameback”at an auction for a dollar ,I think.
Skip ahead to Sunday February27 of”06. In the middle of the afternoon I watched the incredible
happen, just like the books say. When the mouthbrooding cichlids would swim in their circle spawning technique
, the catfish would swim through the circle, eat the cichlid eggs, and leave 3-5 of their own. After the cats
left the area, the female Hap would be so flustered she would pick up anything she could and keep it in her
mouth. I watched this for a while, and then left because I did not want to disturb this process.
On the sixth day I decided to strip the female of her eggs (3 other female were holding by now)
and to my surprise 10 or 12 Synodontis Multipunctatus were spit into my net. The first thing I did was clear a
tank for them. Actually the first thing I did was call Mike C. then I got a tank ready. Now I have one 10 gallon
with the catfish fry, one with a different female Hap with a mouthful. (catfish hopefully). These fry eat all day
long or least look for food all day long.