Fuelleborn's squeaker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fuelleborn's squeaker |
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Fuelleborn's squeaker is a cool type of upside-down catfish. Its scientific name is Synodontis fuelleborni. You can find this fish in Tanzania, especially in Lake Rukwa and the Rufiji River area. Two scientists, Franz Martin Hilgendorf and Paul Pappenheim, first described it in 1903. They found the first one in Lake Rukwa. The fish is named fuelleborni to honor Friedrich Fülleborn, who helped collect the first sample.
What Does Fuelleborn's Squeaker Look Like?
Just like other Synodontis fish, Fuelleborn's squeaker has a strong, bony head. This bony part goes all the way back to the first spine on its top fin. Its head also has a special narrow, bony bump called a humeral process. The shape and size of this bump help scientists tell different Synodontis species apart. For Fuelleborn's squeaker, this bump is shaped like a triangle and has a small ridge on its bottom edge.
This fish has three pairs of barbels, which are like whiskers. One pair is on its upper jaw, and two pairs are on its lower jaw. The upper jaw barbels are long and straight. They reach almost to the end of the bony bump on its head. The outer pair of lower jaw barbels has long, simple branches. The inner pair has shorter, thicker branches with even smaller branches.
The front edges of the top fin (dorsal fin) and the side fins (pectoral fins) of Synodontis fish are hard spines. In Fuelleborn's squeaker, the spine on the dorsal fin is a bit shorter than its head. It's smooth on the front but has small teeth-like bumps on the back. The rest of the dorsal fin has seven soft rays. The spine on the pectoral fin is about the same size as the dorsal spine and has small teeth-like bumps on both sides. The fin near its tail (anal fin) has four simple rays and eight branched rays. Its tail, called the caudal fin, is deeply split into two parts.
All Synodontis fish have a special pad of teeth on the very front of their upper jaw. This is called a premaxillary toothpad. It has several rows of short, chisel-shaped teeth. For Fuelleborn's squeaker, this toothpad is short and wide. On its lower jaw, the teeth are attached to flexible, stalk-like structures. These teeth are often described as "s-shaped" or "hooked." The number of teeth on the lower jaw helps identify different species. Fuelleborn's squeaker has about 51 teeth on its lower jaw.
The main color of this fish is a dark yellowish-green. It has patterns that look like marble, ranging from bright yellow to dark olive-brown. Its fins are grey with dark bands.
The longest Fuelleborn's squeaker ever measured was about 19.2 centimetres (7.6 in) long. Generally, female Synodontis fish tend to be a little bigger than males of the same age.
Where Does It Live and What Does It Do?
In the wild, Fuelleborn's squeaker lives in rivers and swampy areas of lakes. You can find it in Lake Rukwa and the Rufiji basin in Tanzania. It prefers to stay close to the shore.
Scientists don't know much about how most Synodontis species reproduce. We only know a few cases where eggs were found inside female fish. It's thought that Fuelleborn's squeaker lays its eggs in April or May. They likely do this in the open water of the lake, with pairs of fish swimming together during this time.
Synodontis fish are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals. Their diet includes insect larvae, algae, snails, clams, sponges, small crustaceans, and even the eggs of other fish. These fish grow quickly during their first year, but their growth slows down as they get older.
