Critically Endangered
Synodontis xiphias
Synodontis xiphias
Synodontis xiphias is a ray-finned fish in the family Mochokidae (order Siluriformes), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
Like all members of the genus Synodontis, S. Xiphias has a strong, bony head capsule that extends back as far as the first spine of the dorsal fin. The remaining portion of the dorsal fin is made up of seven branching rays. The adipose fin is 4+1⁄2 times as long as it is deep.
It was first described by German ichthyologist Albert Günther in 1864, from specimens obtained in the Niger River.
Range and habitat
In the wild, the species is known only from the lower Niger River. The species is threatened from habitat loss caused by oil exploration in the Niger delta. Spawning likely occurs during the flooding season between July and October, and pairs swim in unison during spawning.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
In crisis
Synodontis xiphias is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Synodontis xiphias, Wikidata item Q3756271. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
