''Synodontis congicus'' is a species of

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 number ...

native to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

where it occurs in the upper and middle

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

. It was first described by Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll in 1971. The first specimen was found near the town of Gangala-na-Bodio, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Dungu River. The meaning of the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''"congicus"'' is "From the Congo".

Description

The fish is light grey to silver in color, with one to four spots along the midlateral line of the body. Like other members of the genus, this fish has a humeral process, which is a bony spike that is attached to a hardened head cap on the fish and can be seen extending beyond the gill opening. The first ray of the dorsal fin and the pectoral fins have a hardened first ray which is serrated. The caudal fin is deeply forked with an extension on the top lobe. It has short, cone-shaped teeth in the upper jaw. In the lower jaw, the teeth are s-shaped and movable. The fish has one pair of short maxillary barbels, and two pairs of mandibular barbels that are often branched. This species grows to a length of SL although specimens up to TL have been recorded in nature. In the wild, the species inhabits tropical waters with a temperature range of , a pH of 6.2 – 7.2, and dH range of 5-15. It is found in the Kinsuka rapids in the Lower Congo basin, upstream to the upper Congo basin, excluding the Luapula River and Lake Mweru.

References

External links

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Synodontis Congicus congicus Catfish of Africa Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Fish of the Republic of the Congo Fish described in 1971 Taxa named by Max Poll