The Mochokidae are a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

es (order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Siluriformes) that are known as the squeakers and upside-down catfish

Upside-down catfish

Upside-down catfish, Synodontis nigriventris, is a species of catfish. It is particularly noteworthy because of its habit of swimming upside down most of the time. Upside-down catfish originate from the Central Congo basin of Africa....

. There are 10 genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 and about 188 species of mochokids. All the mochokids are freshwater species originating from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

They have three pairs of barbels

Barbel (anatomy)

A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...

, with the nasal barbels absent; sometimes, the mandibular barbels may be branched. The lips are be modified into a suckermouth

Suckermouth

In fishes, a suckermouth is a ventrally-oriented mouth adapted for grazing on algae and small organisms that grow on submerged objects....

 in Atopochilus

Atopochilus

Atopochilus is a genus of catfishes of the family Mochokidae. It includes seven species.- Species :*Atopochilus chabanaudi*Atopochilus christyi*Atopochilus macrocephalus*Atopochilus mandevillei...

, Chiloglanis

Chiloglanis

Chiloglanis is a genus of catfishes of the family Mochokidae.-Description:Chiloglanis species have modified lips and barbels that form a suckermouth. They also have a naked body. Sexual dimorphism has been reported in Chiloglanis. The adult males of many of these species have elongate anal and...

, and Euchilichthys

Euchilichthys

Euchilichthys is a genus of catfishes of the family Mochokidae. It includes five species, E. astatodon, E. boulengeri, E. dybowskii, E. guentheri, and E. royauxi....

. The adipose fin is usually very long. The dorsal

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

 and pectoral fins have spines that are usually strong and with a locking mechanism. They range in size up to 72 centimetre

Centimetre

A centimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of . Hence a centimetre can be written as or — meaning or respectively...

s (28 in

Inch

An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...

) SL

Fish measurement

Fish measurement refers to the measuring of the length of individual fish and of various parts of their anatomy. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.-Overall length:...

. This groups contains many popular species among aquarists, such as Synodontis nigriventris, Synodontis angelicus and Synodontis multipunctatus

Synodontis multipunctatus

Synodontis multipunctata, also known as the cuckoo catfish, cuckoo squeaker, or multipunk, is a small catfish from Lake Tanganyika, one of the lakes in the Great Rift Valley system in Africa...

.