Synodont , or peristose catfish [1] ( lat. Synodontis ), is a genus of ray-finned fish from the family of peristose catfish of the order-like fish . The genus includes 131 species [2] . They live in the waters of Central, East and West Africa. Distributed in the basins of the Congo, Niger, Nile, Zambezi, Ivindo, Chad, Malawi, Tanganyika, Victoria, Tana, Rukva lakes. Are objects of local fisheries.
| Synodonts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Synodontis eupterus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synodontis Cuvier , 1816 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Famous aquarium fish of African descent, get along with most large aquarium fish.
Description
The length of the representatives of the genus is from 6 to 70 cm. The head is short, slightly flattened on top and strongly compressed from the sides. The eyes are rather large. The mouth is moderately wide. There are 3 pairs of whiskers, of which the lower ones are usually pinnate or fringed. The latter are shorter than the whiskers on the upper jaw. In each jaw there are 40–65 teeth, more usually at the bottom, where they are merged with each other. The body is massive, squat, strongly compressed from the sides. The dorsal fin is usually large, large, or medium in height, with 1-2 strong and large hard rays (spines). Adipose fin elongated, rounded. The pectoral fins are elongated, pointed at the end, and have one long spike. Pelvic fins small. The anal fin is large, in some species exceeds the dorsal. The males not far from the anal fin have a genital papilla. Caudal fin elongated, strongly cut.
The color is quite varied: ranges from whitish to black. On the main background are numerous spots or specks or stripes and lines of contrasting colors - black, white, orange, brown. Also the types differ in shape and size of the picture, its details. The belly is predominantly monophonic, without any spots or stripes.
Biology
They are found in fresh waters. They inhabit various biotopes: rivers with muddy and clear water, floodplains. There are many endemic species found in individual lakes or rivers. In nature, lake species prefer to cling to rocky mounds with small sandy “glades”.
Capable of making sounds with the help of spines of pectoral fins. When they are taken out of the water, they squeak.
Active at night and twilight. Happy hiding in various shelters. They feed on small aquatic invertebrates, mollusks, fish fry, algae, seeds, detritus. Some species are used in food insects that fell into the water. To do this, catfish swim on their backs, which has become their main means of transportation. Often, these somas take pebbles in their mouths and suck, and some species swallow to improve digestion.
Spawning of the overwhelming majority of species occurs in the rainy season, from July to October. Females often lay eggs in caves or crevices. Parents do not care about laying. Catfish from Tanganyiki have a parasitic method of reproduction. They throw up their eggs to cichlids , which breed offspring in the mouth. Synodontis fry develop and grow faster, therefore as a result fry of cichlids devour.
Types
- S. afrofischeri Hilgendorf, 1888
- Synodontis alberti - Albert pinfish [1]
- S. albolineata Pellegrin , 1924
- Synodontis angelica - Angelic catfish [1]
- S. annectens Boulenger, 1911
- S. ansorgii Boulenger, 1911
- S. arnoulti Roman, 1966
- S. aterrima Poll & Roberts, 1968
- S. bastiani Daget, 1948
- S. batesii Boulenger, 1907
- S. brichardi Poll, 1959
- S. budgetti Boulenger, 1911
- S. camelopardalis Poll, 1971
- S. caudalis Boulenger, 1899
- S. caudovittata Boulenger, 1901
- S. centralis Poll, 1971
- S. clarias (Linnaeus, 1758)
- S. comoensis Daget & Lévêque, 1981
- S. congica Poll, 1971
- S. contracta Vinciguerra, 1928
- S. courteti Pellegrin, 1906
- S. cuangoana Poll, 1971
- S. decora Boulenger, 1899
- S. dekimpei Paugy, 1987
- S. depauwi Boulenger, 1899
- S. dhonto Boulenger, 1917
- S. dorsomaculata Poll, 1971
- S. euptera Boulenger, 1901
- S. fascipinna Nichols & La Monte, 1953
- S. filamentosa Boulenger, 1901
- S. flavitaeniata Boulenger, 1919
- S. frontosa Vaillant , 1895
- S. fuelleborni Hilgendorf & Pappenheim, 1903
- S. gambiensis Günther , 1864
- S. geledensis Günther, 1896
- S. gobroni Daget, 1954
- S. grandiops Wright & Page, 2006 [3]
- S. granulosa Boulenger, 1900
- S. greshoffi Schilthuis, 1891
- S. guttata Günther, 1865
- S. haugi Pellegrin, 1906
- S. ilebrevis Wright & Page, 2006 [3]
- S. iturii Steindachner , 1911
- S. katangae Poll, 1971
- S. khartoumensis Abu Gideiri, 1967
- S. koensis Pellegrin, 1933
- S. laessoei Norman, 1923
- S. leoparda Pfeffer , 1896
- S. leopardina Pellegrin, 1914
- S. longirostris Boulenger, 1902
- S. longispinis Pellegrin, 1930
- S. lucipinnis Wright & Page, 2006 [3]
- S. lufirae Poll, 1971
- S. macrophthalma Poll, 1971
- S. macrops Greenwood, 1963
- S. macropunctata Wright & Page, 2008 [4]
- S. macrostigma Boulenger, 1911
- S. macrostoma Skelton & White, 1990
- S. manni De Vos, 2001
- S. marmorata Lönnberg , 1895
- S. matthesi Poll, 1971
- S. melanoptera Boulenger, 1903
- S. multimaculata Boulenger, 1902
- S. multipunctata Boulenger, 1898
- S. nebulosa Peters , 1852
- S. nigrita Valenciennes , 1840
- Synodontis nigriventris - Black - bellied peristosy catfish , or catfish shifter
- S. nigromaculata Boulenger, 1905
- S. njassae Keilhack, 1908
- S. notata Vaillant, 1893
- S. nummifer Boulenger, 1899
- S. obesus Boulenger, 1898
- S. ocellifer Boulenger, 1900
- S. omias Günther, 1864
- S. ornatipinnis Boulenger, 1899
- S. onratissima Gosse, 1982
- S. pardalis Boulenger, 1908
- S. petricola Matthes, 1959
- S. pleurops Boulenger, 1897
- S. polli Gosse, 1982
- S. polyodon Vaillant, 1895
- S. polystigma Boulenger, 1915
- S. pulcher Poll, 1971
- S. punctifer Daget, 1965
- S. punctulata Günther, 1889
- S. rebeli Holly, 1926
- S. resupinata Boulenger, 1904
- S. ricardoae Seegers, 1996
- S. robbianus Smith, 1875
- S. robertsi Poll, 1974
- S. ruandae Matthes, 1959
- S. rufigiensis Bailey, 1968
- S. rukwaensis Hilgendorf & Pappenheim, 1903
- S. schall ( Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- S. schoutedeni David, 1936
- S. serpentis Whitehead, 1962
- S. serrata Rüppell, 1829
- S. smiti Boulenger, 1902
- S. soloni Boulenger, 1899
- S. sorex Günther, 1864
- S. steindachneri Boulenger, 1913
- S. tanganaicae Borodin, 1936
- S. tessmanni Pappenheim, 1911
- S. thamalakanensis Fowler , 1935
- S. thysi Poll, 1971
- S. tourei Daget, 1962
- S. unicolor Boulenger, 1915
- S. vanderwaali Skelton & White, 1990
- S. velifer Norman, 1935
- S. vermiculata Daget, 1954
- S. victoriae Boulenger, 1906
- S. violacea Pellegrin, 1919
- S. voltae Roman, 1975
- S. waterloti Daget, 1962
- S. woosnami Boulenger, 1911
- S. xiphias Günther, 1864
- S. zambezensis Peters, 1852
- S. zanzibarica Peters, 1868
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Reshetnikov Yu.S. , Kotlyar A.N. , Russ T.S. , Shatunovsky M.I. The five-language dictionary of animal names. Fish. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / edited by Acad. V.E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. laz., 1989. - p. 162. - 12 500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00237-0 .
- ↑ FishBase: List of valid species of the genus Synodontis
- ↑ 1 2 3 Wright & Page. Taxonomic revision of the lake tanganyikan synodontis (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) (eng.) // Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History: journal. - 2006. - Vol. 46 , no. 4 - P. 99-154 .
- ↑ Wright & Page; Page, Lawrence M. A New Species of Synodontis (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) from the Tributaries of the Kasai River in Northern Angola (Eng.) // Copeia : journal. - American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists , 2008. - Vol. 2008 , no. 2 - P. 294—300 . - DOI : 10.1643 / CI-07-040 .