Taxonomy & naming
Synodontis robertsi Poll, 1974 is the valid name in the Catalog of Fishes, described from Elombe on the Lukenie River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The epithet is a patronym; the sources available to the atlas do not state who is honoured.
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 4 in TL.
Habitat
FishBase says it is known only from the type locality, the Lukenie River in the middle Congo River basin, a tributary of the Kasai system. It is a freshwater, benthopelagic tropical fish.
Feeding
Synodontis are opportunistic omnivores that forage mostly at night, taking insect larvae, small crustaceans, molluscs, detritus and plant material. Diet specifics for this species have not been described. 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.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed it as Data Deficient in 2009, meaning there is too little information to rate its risk. FishBase says it is known only from its type locality, and the effect of collecting has not been described.