Squeakers or upside-down catfishes are a fish family occurring exclusively in Africa. The best known genus is Synodontis, which comprises over 130 species. Closely related to this genus is the genus Microsynodontis. The genus name means “small Synodontis” and is program, because these fish already become sexually mature with 3-4 cm of length, are thus true dwarf fish. The biggest known species becomes maximum 10 cm long, most reach 5-6 cm of final-length.
Unfortunately, it is very tricky to determine the species correctly; until 2004 the fish presented here were called M. batesii, then the species was divided into 8 species, but so far no scientist has found the time to correctly determine the animals imported by us from Nigeria. It is possible that this is a species that has not yet been scientifically recorded, among the already described species M. emarginata is the most similar one; it is obvious that all the species previously grouped under M. batesii look extraordinarily similar.
We receive these fish with a length of 2-3 cm and have never seen specimens larger than about 5 cm. They are very sociable animals that like to live in dense association with their conspecifics. Microsynodontis are very peaceful against other fish. They are well suited for the containment of a possible mass increase of small water snails, because these form a component of the food of the small catfish. Otherwise, all usual feeds are eaten gladly. The chemical water composition is of no importance for the care of these animals, but extremes should be avoided. The water temperature can lie in the range of 22-28°C.
For our customers: the animals have code 149302 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
