''Synodontis decorus'' 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 ...

. Common names include clown catfish, clown synodontis, clown syno, clown squeaker, and barredtail squeaker.

Distribution

The ''Synodontis decorus'' is native to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

, 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 can be found anywhere in the

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 c ...

except the

Luapula River The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mw ...

system. This is one of the many interesting Synodontis species found in

Malebo Pool The Pool Malebo, formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Mpumbu, Lake Nkunda or Lake Nkuna by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times, is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River.

Description

The unusual trait of this ''Synodontis'' is the long extension of the dorsal fin which can reach as far back as its caudal fin and along with its attractive body colouration makes it one of the most popular catfish of the genus, ''Synodontis''. The head and body are compressed. It has three pairs of barbells, maxillary barbells with a small membrane at the base and small slender ramifications larger than on maxillary barbells.
It is mostly white with black spots. Its ventral region is white. The dorsal, caudal, anal and ventral fins are white with black transverse bands.

Size, age, and growth

This species grows to a length of TL.

Parasites

As other fish, ''Synodontis decorus'' harbours

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

, including species of the

monogenea Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reprod ...

n genus ''Synodontella''.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3760480

decorus ''Decorus'' is a genus of cyprinid freshwater fish found in China and India. This genus was split from ''Bangana'' in 2019. The generic name is Latin for "beautiful" and is tautonym A tautonym is a scientific name of a species in which both p ...

Catfish of Africa Fish of Cameroon Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Fish of the Republic of the Congo Fish described in 1899 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger