Taxonomy & naming
Synodontis batensoda Rüppell, 1832 is the valid name in the Catalog of Fishes. It was described from the Nile, and the species is widespread across the Sahel and West Africa. It is noted among Synodontis for habitually swimming upside down at the surface, where it feeds.
Morphology
Like other squeakers, it has a broad head, three pairs of barbels (an unbranched maxillary pair and two branched mandibular pairs), an adipose fin and a stout, serrated, lockable spine at the front of the dorsal and each pectoral fin. The skin is scaleless. The spines tangle in nets and can pierce skin, and rubbing the pectoral spine against the girdle makes the audible squeak that gives the group its name. FishBase gives a maximum of 11.5 in TL, and notes that other references report anything from 10.5–19.5 in.
Habitat
FishBase lists the Nile, Senegal, Gambia, upper Volta, Ogun, Osse, Niger (including the Bénoué) and Chad basins. It is a more open-water, surface-oriented Synodontis than most, and it commonly swims inverted. The type locality is in Egypt.
Feeding
FishBase calls it an omnivore: adults feed on plankton, algae and detritus, and may also take surface insects, chironomid larvae, benthic crustaceans and molluscs. In the aquarium the genus takes sinking pellets, wafers and frozen foods readily, best offered after lights-out.
Mating
FishBase says it is oviparous with distinct pairing during breeding. Where Synodontis have been studied, spawning is a pair or group event in sheltered sites, with eggs left unguarded or only loosely guarded.
Breeding
FishBase lists it as oviparous with distinct pairing. Breeding in aquaria has not been recorded; most Synodontis are not bred routinely by hobbyists, and commercially available fish are generally wild-caught.
In the aquarium
Keep it in a roomy tank with caves, wood or rock stacks to retire to by day, a fine substrate, and tankmates too large to be eaten and robust enough to ignore the spines. Net with a container, not a mesh net, to avoid tangling. Medicate cautiously, as scaleless skin is sensitive. FishBase lists 73–81 °F; no pH or hardness range is given. Give it open water and surface space, since it swims inverted.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed it as Least Concern in 2019, meaning it is not considered at risk of extinction at present. Wild-caught fish enter the trade, but the effect on wild populations has not been described.