right
''Synodontis batensoda'', the upside-down catfish,
is a species of
mochokid upside-down catfish
The name upside-down catfish is most commonly used by aquarists to refer to the mochokid catfish '' Synodontis nigriventris'' alternately known to ichthyologists as the blotched upside-down catfish or false upside-down catfish. However, a numbe ...
. It is unevenly distributed in inland waters across Africa from
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 井仆井內丐中五 (Senegaali); Arabic: 塈堻媞塈 ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''R矇ewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 井仆不丐仆不五 ...
to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, Ｓ菲桑菲, tiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, and is also known as a squeaker
or giant upside-down catfish.
It was originally described by
Eduard R羹ppell
Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon R羹ppell (20 November 1794 10 December 1884) was a German Natural history, naturalist and List of explorers, explorer. R羹ppell is occasionally transliterated to "Rueppell" for the English alphabet, due to german ort ...
in 1832 in the paper "Continuation of the description and figure of several new fish, in the Nile. p1-14".
The species is now regionally extinct in Northern Africa, but used to be found in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, 塈塈堭堜, al-Qhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
during floods.
It can be found in portions of the
White Nile
The White Nile ( ar, 塈 塈堧堥媔 ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
,
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
, and the
Baro Rivers in northeast Africa, and the
Chad
Chad (; ar, 堛奡塈堹 , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
,
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 井仆井內丐中五 (Senegaali); Arabic: 塈堻媞塈 ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''R矇ewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 井仆不丐仆不五 ...](_blank)
, and
Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, 媞塈堥塈 officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
river basins in western Africa.
It occurs in slow-moving waters and marshes bordering large rivers.
[ Water temperatures in its native habitat range from .][
''Synodontis batensoda'' is silver-green to blue-grey with black barbels and a blackish underside (thus its specific name, from Arabic
堥媟 塈堻堹塈堙 ''ban sawd''' = "black belly").][ Occasionally, individuals can be reddish brown.][ Juveniles display large dark-colored blotches on the sides separated by pale patches.][
It has 3942 ]gill raker
Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of the ...
s rather than 733 as in other ''Synodontis'' species, and its dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...
and adipose fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...
are contiguous. The body is short and deep, the eyes are large, and its colouration is grey-black tinged with brown, with a faint network of dark black spots. There is a comb of small spines near the point of the operculum.Hemisynodontis
''Synodontis membranaceus'', known as the moustache catfish, is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to northern Africa. It was first described by French naturalist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1809 as ''Pimelodus membranaceus'', from ...
''.[ The caudal fin is forked, with each lobe ending in a point.][ Like other ''Synodontis'' species, this fish almost always swims upside down.][ This fish may grow up to TL and weigh up to .]omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...
fish feeds on plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...
, alga
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...
e, detritus
In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...
, surface insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s, chironomid
The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many specie ...
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
e, benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, 帣峟彖庛怷 (b矇nthos), meaning "t ...
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s, and molluscs
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil sp ...
. It is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
and venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
ous.[
In the ]aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
hobby, it is peaceful and hardy fish that is compatible with even small fish, but may be bullied by more aggressive ''Synodontis'' species.[
]
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2517259
Synodontis
Venomous fish
Fish of Cameroon
Fish of Chad
Fish of Egypt
Fish of Ethiopia
Freshwater fish of West Africa
Fish of Sudan
Fish described in 1832
