MOCHOKIDAE

The 'Mochokidae' are a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes) that are known as the 'squeakers' and upside-down catfish. There are 10 genera and about 188 species of mochokids.^[1] All the mochokids are freshwater species originating from Africa.^[2]
They have three pairs of barbels, with the nasal barbels absent; sometimes, the mandibular barbels may be branched. The lips are be modified into a suckermouth in ''Atopochilus'', ''Chiloglanis'', and ''Euchilichthys''. The adipose fin is usually very long. The dorsal and pectoral fins have spines that are usually strong and with a locking mechanism. They range in size up to 72 centimetres (28 in) SL. This groups contains many popular species among aquarists, such as ''Synodontis nigriventris'', ''Synodontis angelicus'' and ''Synodontis multipunctatus''.

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References

References

1. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types, , Carl J., Jr., Ferraris, Zootaxa, 2007
2. Fishes of the World, , Joseph S., Nelson, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2006,