Synodontis afrofischeri • Mochokidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Habitat: Lake Nabugabo, Uganda
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Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Synodontis afrofischeri** Hilgendorf, 1888
Common Name(s)	Nkolongo
Type Locality	Lake Ukerewe, Victoria Nyanaza.
Pronunciation	sin oh don tiss
Etymology	Synodontis: From the Greek syn, meaning together, and odontos, meaning tooth; in reference to the closely-spaced lower jaw teeth. In honour of the German researcher Dr.G.A. Fischer, who collected the first species of fishes known to science from Lake Victoria and some other places within East Africa.
Species Information
Size	177mm (7") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	All species in the genus Synodontis have a hardened head cap that has attached a process (humeral process) which is situated behind the gill opening and pointed towards the posterior. The dorsal fin and pectoral fins have a hardened first ray which is serrated. Caudal fin is always forked. There is one pair of maxillary barbels, sometimes having membranes and occasionally branched. The two pairs of mandibular barbels are often branched and can have nodes attached. The cone-shaped teeth in the upper jaw are short. S-shaped and movable in the lower jaw. These fish produce audible sounds when disturbed rubbing the base of the pectoral spine against the pectoral girdle. Maxillary barbels reaching almost to the origin of the pelvic fin in some specimens and to the tip of the humeral process in others. Outer mandibular barbels with slender branches, inner pair with shorter, but slender branches. Marbled yellowish-brown (marbling is extremely variable, some individuals uniformly brown). A quite constant feature is a dark to black band from the eye to the mouth and two irregular light vertical bands anteriorly and posteriorly of the adipose fin. It is difficult to distinguish juvenile S.afrofisceri from juvenile S.fuelleborni by coloration only.
General Remarks	Rarely grows to lengths greater than 15 cm SL. In the Piti River specimens at two occasions were caught between dense vegetation near the river banks. This species has adapted to a wide variety of habitats and thrives equally as well in the hard, alkaline waters of Lake Victoria as in the soft, acidic waters of swamps.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Africa: Lake Victoria, Lake Nabugabo, Victoria Nile, Lake Kyoga, Kagera River, Ihema Lake, Kingani River, Malagarasi (Nile Basin). African Waters , Western Rift Valley Lakes, Victoria (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) African Waters , Nabugabo (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) African Waters , Nile, Upper Nile, White Nile (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) African Waters , Nile, Upper Nile, White Nile, Kyoga (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) African Waters , Western Rift Valley Lakes, Victoria , Kagera (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) African Waters , Ihema (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	6.0 - 8.0
Temperature	22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	dH 5-25.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Feeds on molluscs and insects, particularly chironomid larvae and Povilla.
Furniture	Historically (until the 1960s) this species was found throughout the Lake Victoria basin in a wide variety of habitats. Today, due to predation by the Nile Perch, they are primarily restricted to heavily vegetated swamps and feeder rivers that Nile Perch can not enter, as well as thick strands of reeds or hippo grass on the lake's margins. In captivity they will thrive in set ups as diverse as a rock habitat for Victorian Haplochromids to a Victorian papyrus swamp populated with Ctenopoma and larger killie fishes.
Compatibility	A peaceful fish, but should not be kept with very small fishes which it may mistake for food.
Breeding	Chapman, Kaufman, and Chapman (1994) Why Swim Upside Down? A comparative study of two Mochokid catfishes. Copeia. 1994 (1) pp 130-135. References that some of the S. afrofischeri used in their study were specimens obtained from a captive spawning in the Lake Victoria exhibit at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. No further details are given. Is thought to spawn in the Piti River or the Rungwa drainage at the beginning of the rains in November/December.
Further Information
References	Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin1888 - pp77 The Fishes of the Lake Rukwa Drainage,Seegers pg.236
Registered Keepers	(1) corybreed, (2) synodont_fan, (3) photizo379 (p: 2). Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species. Add this species to your "my cats" page.
Breeding Reports	None.
More Resources	- CotM 2009 October - Search Planet Catfish for more on Synodontis afrofischeri - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Synodontis afrofischeri on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Synodontis afrofischeri on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	10238 hits.
Last Update	2009 Sep 08 11:33 (species record created: 2001 Apr 21 00:00)

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