Taxonomy & naming
Synodontis macrops was described by the British ichthyologist Peter Humphry Greenwood in 1963. It belongs to the family Mochokidae — the African squeakers and upside-down catfishes — and to the large genus Synodontis, which holds well over a hundred valid species distributed across tropical and subtropical Africa. Greenwood is best known for his extensive work on the cichlids of Lake Victoria, but he also described several Synodontis species from Central African river systems during his career at the Natural History Museum, London. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences) treats Synodontis macrops as the valid combination.
The genus name Synodontis is an old term applied to these catfishes, conventionally interpreted as deriving from the Greek syn- (together) and odous (tooth), a reference to the teeth of the lower jaw. The species epithet macrops is Greek, from makros (large) and ops (eye), describing a proportionally large eye noted in the original description. Approximate pronunciation: sin-oh-DON-tis MAK-rops.
Morphology
The defining character in the species name is a proportionally large eye relative to related Synodontis species, though precise measurements from the original description were not accessible for this article. Beyond that diagnostic feature, S. macrops can be expected to share the classic squeaker body plan: a broad, dorsally flattened head, a sturdy body, three pairs of barbels, entirely scaleless skin, and the stiff, serrated, locking spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins that characterise Synodontis — a genus-level inference rather than a full documented description of this species.
Habitat
Synodontis macrops is native to Central Africa, consistent with the Congo basin focus of much of Greenwood's ichthyological fieldwork during this period. Specific river drainage, water chemistry and habitat descriptions for this species were not accessible for this article.
Feeding
No dietary study specific to Synodontis macrops was accessible for this article. Synodontis species as a group are generally benthic omnivores, foraging over the substrate for aquatic invertebrates and some plant material, often nocturnally, and a comparatively large eye could plausibly relate to enhanced foraging in low light — a genus-level inference, not a finding reported for this species specifically.
Mating
No courtship behaviour has been documented for Synodontis macrops in the sources accessible for this article. Most Synodontis species are conventional egg-scatterers rather than the brood-parasitic cuckoo catfish behaviour unique to S. multipunctatus of Lake Tanganyika, but this has not been confirmed specifically for S. macrops.
Breeding
Reproductive biology of Synodontis macrops is not documented in the sources accessible for this article. Most Synodontis species are egg-scatterers over substrate with no parental care, a genus-level generalisation rather than a confirmed account of this species specifically. There is no established aquarium-breeding record for this species.
In the aquarium
Synodontis macrops is not established in the aquarium hobby and has no documented husbandry record. By genus-level analogy, any Synodontis kept in the aquarium requires care around its entirely scaleless skin — significantly more sensitive than scaled fish to copper-based medications — and around the stiff, serrated locking spines that can tangle in nets and injure the keeper's hands; a proportionally large eye would also suggest a strongly nocturnal, light-averse habit, but these are general Synodontis-care points rather than documented guidance specific to this species.
Conservation
Synodontis macrops carries a CARES Fish Preservation Program priority listing of Vulnerable (CVU). A current IUCN Red List category was not confirmed for this article, and specific population trend or threat data for this species were not accessible here. As with many Congo basin endemics, habitat modification, fishing pressure and broader environmental change affecting Central African river systems would be expected to be relevant pressures at the genus level.