Taxonomy & naming
Synodontis clarias (Linnaeus, 1758) is the valid name in the Catalog of Fishes, originally described as Silurus clarias. Linnaeus gave the locality as America, which the Catalog of Fishes marks as an error for Africa. The epithet refers to the catfish genus Clarias.
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 14 in SL, and cites a second source with a maximum of 13 in TL and 9 in SL.
Habitat
FishBase gives its range as the Senegal, Gambia, Volta, Niger (including the Benue) and Chad basins, and also the Nile. It is a freshwater, benthopelagic tropical fish and is listed as potamodromous, migrating within rivers. The American locality in the original description is an error.
Feeding
Synodontis are opportunistic omnivores that forage mostly at night, taking insect larvae, small crustaceans, molluscs, detritus and plant material. FishBase calls it an omnivore that feeds on insect larvae, molluscs and detritus. 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 70–75 °F and pH 6.5 to 7.5, with hardness up to 18 dH.
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.