Taxonomy & naming
Microsynodontis christyi was described by George Albert Boulenger in 1920 from Poko, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Catalog of Fishes lists it as valid in the family Mochokidae, the squeakers and upside-down catfishes. The store listing gives it as Microsynodontis cf. christyi, meaning the fish sold resemble this species but their identity has not been confirmed to species level; the article describes christyi itself.
The genus name means small Synodontis. The epithet is a patronym honouring a person named Christy.
Morphology
A small, stout-bodied mochokid with the typical locking pectoral and dorsal spines and three pairs of barbels of the family. FishBase has no maximum length for this species.
Habitat
FishBase records it from the middle Congo River drainage. No temperature, pH or hardness range is recorded.
Feeding
Feeding in the wild is not described in the sources the atlas uses. Congo mochokids of this size take small invertebrates from the bottom, and in the aquarium frozen bloodworm, daphnia and small sinking foods are accepted.
Mating
Mating is not described for Microsynodontis christyi.
Breeding
No spawning or captive breeding is recorded for this species.
In the aquarium
Keep it in a shaded tank with caves, roots and rock, and soft to moderately hard, warm water as for other Congo basin fishes. It is a hider that emerges at dusk, and it is small enough to be outcompeted at feeding time by active tankmates, so target-feed after lights-out.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed Microsynodontis christyi as Least Concern in 2009. The sources the atlas uses record no specific threats.