Synodontis Cuvier 1816
Creators: name: Englmaier, Gernot K.
name: Blažek, Radim
name: Zimmermann, Holger
name: Bartáková, Veronika
name: Polačik, Matej
name: Žák, Jakub
name: Mulokozi, Deogratias P.
name: Katongo, Cyprian
name: Büscher, Heinz H.
name: Mabo, Lwabanya
name: Koblmüller, Stephan
name: Palandačić, Anja
name: Reichard, Martin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Siluriformes
Mochokidae
Synodontis

description: Key to Synodontis species of the Lake Tanganyika basin
1a. Large, conspicuous axillary pore present at anterior ventral margin of humeral process (Figs 5, 6, 8, 9, 12C) 2
1b. Axillary pore absent or axillary pore small or only skin fold visible (Figs 7, 10, 11, 13–15) ............................................................5
2a. Mandibular teeth 38–50, arranged in eight or 10 symmetric rows of replacement teeth ..................................................................3
2b. Mandibular teeth 13–29, arranged in four or six symmetric rows of replacement teeth ...................................................................4
3a. Total vertebrae 41–45 (median 43); secondary branches on inner mandibular barbels 0–5 (median 0); snout length 46.0%– 56.5% (mean 48.7%) of head length; length of inner mandibular barbels 34.7%–70.7% (mean 47.8%) of outer mandibular-barbel length ................................................................................................................................................................. S. granulosus (Fig. 6)
3b. Total vertebrae 40–41 (median 41); secondary branches on inner mandibular barbels 4–8 (median 6); snout length 50.3%– 60.0% (mean 55.4%) of head length; length of inner mandibular barbels 28.3%–41.7% (mean 36.4%) of outer mandibular-barbel length ............................................................................................................................................................ S. tanganyicae (Fig. 12)
4a. Head and body with abundant granular papillae; spots absent................................................................................... S. dhonti (Fig. 5)
4b. Head and body with few papillae, usually restricted to head, non-granular; abundant black spots on head and body................. ............................................................................................................................................................................ S. multipunctatus (Figs 8, 9)
5a. Caudal-fin lobes with black bars, never without pigmentation or only spots; head and body usually with abundant black spots (Figs 7, 10, 11) ................................................................................................................................................................................................6
5b. Caudal-fin lobes never with black bars, caudal fin usually with abundant black or dark brown spots; head and body with or without dark spots (Figs 13–15) .................................................................................................................................................................8
6a. Mandibular teeth 41–68 (median 53), commonly arranged in eight symmetric rows of replacement teeth; head and body with abundant villous papillae.......................................................................................................................................... S. polli (Fig. 11)
6b. Mandibular teeth 18–48, commonly arranged in four or six symmetric rows of replacement teeth; head and body with few papillae, usually restricted to head ..............................................................................................................................................................7
7a. Dorsal spine usually completely white; 87%–100% (mean 97%) of first branched dorsal-fin ray dark (from base) vs. 0%–13% (mean 3%) white (from tip); mandibular teeth 31–48 (median 39)................................................................. S. petricola (Fig. 10)
7b. Dorsal spine never completely white, only white at tip and upper flexible part; 56%–76% (mean 66%) of first branched dorsal-fin ray dark (from base) vs. 24%–44% (mean 34%) white (from tip); mandibular teeth 18–35 (median 24)................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................ S. irsacae (Fig. 7)
8a. Primary premaxillary teeth 33–57 (median 43); mandibular teeth 42–64 (median 49), arranged in six symmetric rows of replacement teeth; head and body with marbled body coloration .................................................................... S. afrofischeri (Fig. 13)
8b. Primary premaxillary teeth 16–64; mandibular teeth 18–38, arranged in four or six symmetric rows of replacement teeth; head and body with or without dark spots, never with marbled coloration pattern.........................................................................9
9a. Primary premaxillary teeth 34–64 (median 46); head, body, and fins with abundant dark spots........ S. melanostictus (Fig. 14)
9b. Primary premaxillary teeth 16–29 (median 23); head, body, and fins with or without dark spots............... S. victoriae (Fig. 15)
description: Published as part of Englmaier, Gernot K., Blažek, Radim, Zimmermann, Holger, Bartáková, Veronika, Polačik, Matej, Žák, Jakub, Mulokozi, Deogratias P., Katongo, Cyprian, Büscher, Heinz H., Mabo, Lwabanya, Koblmüller, Stephan, Palandačić, Anja & Reichard, Martin, 2024, Revised taxonomy of Synodontis catfishes (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) from the Lake Tanganyika basin reveals lower species diversity than expected, pp. 1-38 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (3) on page 35, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae130, http://zenodo.org/record/14453763