Hemisynodontis membranacea • Mochokidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Hemisynodontis membranacea** (Geoffroy - St. Hilaire, 1809)
Common Name(s)	Moustache Catfish
Type Locality	Nile River, Egypt(?)
Synonym(s)	Hemisynodontis membranaceus, Pimelodus membranaceus, Synodontis guentheri
Pronunciation	mem bran ass ee uss
Etymology	Hemisynodontis: From the Greek hemi, meaning half, and synodontis. membranaceus referring to the skin membranes on the maxillary and mandibular barbels.
Species Information
Size	280mm (11") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	As very small fish (less than 30mm) these fish are patterned with a few large spots on their body. These fade quickly with growth. Can be confused with Brachysynodontis but a quick look at the barbels will sort them out. In Brachysynodontis only the maxillary are membranous and to a lesser degree than in Hemisynodontis.
Sexing	Unknown
Habitat Information
Distribution	Tropical Africa - Nile basin, Chad, Niger, Senegal, Gambia & Volta River African Waters, Nile (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Nigeria Waters, Niger (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Chad (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Sénégal (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Gambia (click on these areas to find other species found there) African Waters, Volta (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	6.5 - 7.5
Temperature	22.0-25.0°C or 71.6-77°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	In nature this fish feeds mainly on plankton but this is well substituted in the aquarium by frozen brineshrimp and daphnia which are eaten in huge quantities.
Furniture	A solitary cave is all that is required for this fish.
Compatibility	Peaceful and not too anti-social with other catfish excepting other members of it's own family. Youngsters appear sociable to each other but become quarrelsome with age.
Suggested Tankmates	Although able to be kept with more sedate fish, boisterous Central American cichlids are an ideal mix for this fish as their messy eating habits provide plenty of food for the catfish. A good community fish for the larger tank.
Breeding	Unreported.
Further Information
Registered Keepers	(1) Dave Rinaldo, (2) Silurus, (3) Chrysichthys (k: 3), (4) jippo (k: 7), (5) dayglowfroggy (p: 2), (6) oliv67, (7) Junttis (k: 3), (8) syno-kev, who also notes: "my largest syno member in y collection it is approx 1 foot long and 15 years old bought from a former owner who needed the tank space.", (9) tiffanyjayne, (10) arapaimag (k: 2), (11) tutters187, (12) zipper, (13) richb (k: 2), who also notes: "I got the fish from a local aquarium store when it closed. They are old fish and one is blind. Both are over 12" total length. For their size and mass, they eat smaller foods so it is a bit of a challenge keeping weight on them. They are currently in a 360 gallon aquarium.", (14) Jools (k: 2), (15) lasteeves. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.
Breeding Reports	None.
Articles	- CotM 1999 November
	Search Planet Catfish for more on Hemisynodontis membranacea
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Last Update	2009 Dec 20 05:00 (species record created: 2001 Apr 21 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Hemisynodontis membranacea (Geoffroy - St. Hilaire, 1809)

Common Name(s)

Moustache Catfish

Type Locality

Nile River, Egypt(?)

Synonym(s)

Hemisynodontis membranaceus, Pimelodus membranaceus, Synodontis guentheri

Pronunciation

mem bran ass ee uss

Etymology

Hemisynodontis: From the Greek hemi, meaning half, and synodontis. membranaceus referring to the skin membranes on the maxillary and mandibular barbels.

Species Information

Size

280mm (11") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

As very small fish (less than 30mm) these fish are patterned with a few large spots on their body. These fade quickly with growth. Can be confused with Brachysynodontis but a quick look at the barbels will sort them out. In Brachysynodontis only the maxillary are membranous and to a lesser degree than in Hemisynodontis.

Sexing

Unknown

Habitat Information

Distribution

Tropical Africa - Nile basin, Chad, Niger, Senegal, Gambia & Volta River
African Waters, Nile (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Nigeria Waters, Niger (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Chad (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Sénégal (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Gambia (click on these areas to find other species found there)
African Waters, Volta (click on these areas to find other species found there)

(Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)

6.5 - 7.5

Temperature

22.0-25.0°C or 71.6-77°F (Show others within this range)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

In nature this fish feeds mainly on plankton but this is well substituted in the aquarium by frozen brineshrimp and daphnia which are eaten in huge quantities.

Furniture

A solitary cave is all that is required for this fish.

Compatibility

Peaceful and not too anti-social with other catfish excepting other members of it's own family. Youngsters appear sociable to each other but become quarrelsome with age.

Suggested Tankmates

Although able to be kept with more sedate fish, boisterous Central American cichlids are an ideal mix for this fish as their messy eating habits provide plenty of food for the catfish. A good community fish for the larger tank.

Breeding

Unreported.

Further Information

Registered Keepers

(1) Dave Rinaldo, (2) Silurus, (3) Chrysichthys (k: 3), (4) jippo (k: 7), (5) dayglowfroggy (p: 2), (6) oliv67, (7) Junttis (k: 3), (8) syno-kev, who also notes: "my largest syno member in y collection it is approx 1 foot long and 15 years old bought from a former owner who needed the tank space.", (9) tiffanyjayne, (10) arapaimag (k: 2), (11) tutters187, (12) zipper, (13) richb (k: 2), who also notes: "I got the fish from a local aquarium store when it closed. They are old fish and one is blind. Both are over 12" total length. For their size and mass, they eat smaller foods so it is a bit of a challenge keeping weight on them. They are currently in a 360 gallon aquarium.", (14) Jools (k: 2), (15) lasteeves.

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Breeding Reports

None.

Articles