Ghost knifefish
Encyclopedia
The ghost knifefishes are a family, Apteronotidae, of ray-finned fishes in the order Gymnotiformes
. These fish can be found in the freshwater
of Panama
and South America
.
They are distinguished from other gymnotiform fishes by the presence of a caudal fin (all other families lack a caudal fin) as well as a fleshy dorsal organ represented by a longitudinal strip along the dorsal midline. The longest Apteronotid is Apteronotus magdalenensis, reaching 1.3 metres. These nocturnal fish have small eyes. Also, sexual dimorphism
exists in some genera in snout shape and jaws.
Apteronotids use a high frequency tone-type (also called wave-type) electric organ discharge (EOD) to communicate.
Many Apteronotids are aggressive predators of small aquatic insect larvae and fishes, though there are also piscivorous and planktivorous
species. Magosternarchus
spp. are very unusual, preying on the tails of other electric fishes. Other species, such as Sternarchorhynchus and Sternarchorhamphus, have tubular snouts and forage on the beds of aquatic insect larvae and other small animals which burrow into the river bottom. At least one species (Sternarchogiton nattereri
) eats freshwater sponges which grow on submerged trees, stumps, and other woody debris.
The genus Apteronotus
is artificial and many of the species do not actually belong in it.
The black ghost knifefish
(Apteronotus albifrons) and brown ghost knifefish
(Apteronotus leptorhynchus) are readily available as aquarium
fish. Others, are known to appear in the trade, but are quite rare.
lists 58 species in thirteen genera. However, including those still undergoing description, there are likely to be at least 64 species, with many more expected. Another genus is being described. A number of additional species have been discovered recently, for example Apteronotus milesi in 2005,.
Family Apteronotidae
Gymnotiformes
The Gymnotiformes are a group of teleost bony fishes commonly known as the Neotropical or South American knifefishes. They have long bodies and swim using undulations of their elongated anal fin...
. These fish can be found in the freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
They are distinguished from other gymnotiform fishes by the presence of a caudal fin (all other families lack a caudal fin) as well as a fleshy dorsal organ represented by a longitudinal strip along the dorsal midline. The longest Apteronotid is Apteronotus magdalenensis, reaching 1.3 metres. These nocturnal fish have small eyes. Also, sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
exists in some genera in snout shape and jaws.
Apteronotids use a high frequency tone-type (also called wave-type) electric organ discharge (EOD) to communicate.
Many Apteronotids are aggressive predators of small aquatic insect larvae and fishes, though there are also piscivorous and planktivorous
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
species. Magosternarchus
Magosternarchus
Magosternarchus is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, containing two species. They are native to Brazil, occurring in large river channels in the Amazon River basin...
spp. are very unusual, preying on the tails of other electric fishes. Other species, such as Sternarchorhynchus and Sternarchorhamphus, have tubular snouts and forage on the beds of aquatic insect larvae and other small animals which burrow into the river bottom. At least one species (Sternarchogiton nattereri
Sternarchogiton nattereri
Sternarchogiton nattereri is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. It is native to the Amazon River system and feeds on sponges. Unlike other members of the genus Sternarchogiton, there is pronounced sexual dimorphism in S. nattereri, with reproductively mature males...
) eats freshwater sponges which grow on submerged trees, stumps, and other woody debris.
The genus Apteronotus
Apteronotus
Apteronotus is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, distinguished by the presence of a tiny caudal fin.-Species:* Black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons ....
is artificial and many of the species do not actually belong in it.
The black ghost knifefish
Black ghost knifefish
The black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons, is a tropical fish belonging to the ghost knifefish family . They originate in South America in the Amazon Basin in Peru and from Venezuela through Paraguay in the Paraná River. They are becoming popular in aquaria...
(Apteronotus albifrons) and brown ghost knifefish
Brown ghost knifefish
The brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus, is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae....
(Apteronotus leptorhynchus) are readily available as aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
fish. Others, are known to appear in the trade, but are quite rare.
Species
FishBaseFishBase
FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish species . It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web...
lists 58 species in thirteen genera. However, including those still undergoing description, there are likely to be at least 64 species, with many more expected. Another genus is being described. A number of additional species have been discovered recently, for example Apteronotus milesi in 2005,.
- Genus Adontosternarchus
- Adontosternarchus balaenops (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1878). - Adontosternarchus clarkae Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985.
- Adontosternarchus devenanzii Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985.
- Clouded ghost knifefish, Adontosternarchus nebulosus Lundberg & Fernandes, 2007.
- Adontosternarchus sachsi (PetersWilhelm PetersWilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...
, 1877).
- Adontosternarchus balaenops (Cope
- Genus ApteronotusApteronotusApteronotus is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, distinguished by the presence of a tiny caudal fin.-Species:* Black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons ....
- Black ghost knifefishBlack ghost knifefishThe black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons, is a tropical fish belonging to the ghost knifefish family . They originate in South America in the Amazon Basin in Peru and from Venezuela through Paraguay in the Paraná River. They are becoming popular in aquaria...
, Apteronotus albifrons (LinnaeusCarolus LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
, 1766). - Apteronotus apurensis Fernández-Yépez, 1968.
- Apteronotus bonapartii (Castelnau, 1855).
- Apteronotus brasiliensis (Reinhardt, 1852).
- Apteronotus camposdapazi de Santana & Lehmann, 2006.
- Apteronotus caudimaculosus Santana, 2003.
- Apteronotus cuchillejo (Schultz, 1949).
- Apteronotus cuchillo Schultz, 1949.
- Apteronotus ellisi (Alonso de Arámburu, 1957).
- Apteronotus eschmeyeri Santana, Maldonado-Ocampo, Severi & Mendes, 2004.
- Apteronotus galvisiApteronotus galvisiApteronotus galvisi is a species of ghost knifefish that was first described in a 2007 scientific paper. It is endemic to Colombia. It has a mostly brown body, with some areas of yellow or white....
de Santana et al., 2007. - Apteronotus jurubidae (Fowler, 1944).
- Brown ghost knifefishBrown ghost knifefishThe brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus, is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae....
, Apteronotus leptorhynchus (Ellis, 1912). - Apteronotus macrolepis (SteindachnerFranz SteindachnerFranz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...
, 1881). - Apteronotus macrostomus (Günther, 1870).
- Apteronotus magdalenensis (Miles, 1945).
- Apteronotus mariae (EigenmannCarl H. EigenmannCarl H. Eigenmann was an ichthyologist who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, described many of the fishes of North America and South America for the first time....
& Fisher, 1914). - Apteronotus milesi de Santana & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2005.
- Apteronotus rostratus (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913).
- Apteronotus spurrellii (Regan, 1914).
- Black ghost knifefish
- Genus Compsaraia
- Compsaraia compsa (Mago-Leccia, 1994).
- Compsaraia samueli (Albert & Crampton, 2009).
- Genus MagosternarchusMagosternarchusMagosternarchus is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, containing two species. They are native to Brazil, occurring in large river channels in the Amazon River basin...
- Magosternarchus duccis Lundberg, Cox Fernandes & Albert, 1996.
- Magosternarchus raptor Lundberg, Cox Fernandes & Albert, 1996.
- Genus Megadontognathus
- Megadontognathus cuyuniense Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Megadontognathus kaitukaensis Campos-da-paz, 1999.
- Genus Orthosternarchus
- Orthosternarchus tamanduaOrthosternarchus tamanduaOrthosternarchus tamandua is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, native to the deep river channels of the Amazon River system. It is the only species in its genus. This species is characterized by its long tubular snout, long dorsal appendage, and tiny, bilaterally...
(BoulengerGeorge Albert BoulengerGeorge Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1898).
- Orthosternarchus tamandua
- Genus Parapteronotus
- Parapteronotus hasemani (Ellis, 1913).
- Genus Pariosternarchus
- Pariosternarchus amazonensisPariosternarchus amazonensisPariosternarchus amazonensis is a little-known species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, and the only member of its genus. It is found in the main channel of the Amazon River in Brazil and Peru, likely near the bottom in deep, fast-moving water. This species is characterized...
Albert & Crampton, 2006.
- Pariosternarchus amazonensis
- Genus Platyurosternarchus
- Platyurosternarchus macrostomus (Günther, 1870).
- Genus Porotergus
- Porotergus gimbeli Ellis, 1912.
- Porotergus gymnotus Ellis, 1912.
- Genus Sternarchella
- Sternarchella curvioperculata Godoy, 1968.
- Sternarchella orthos Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Sternarchella schottiSternarchella schottiSternarchella schotti is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. This species is found in the Amazon River basin, and is sometimes kept in aquaria. The species grows to approximately 20 cm in length, and has a pale pink color in life with brown speckling along the...
(SteindachnerFranz SteindachnerFranz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...
, 1868). - Sternarchella sima Starks, 1913.
- Sternarchella terminalis (EigenmannCarl H. EigenmannCarl H. Eigenmann was an ichthyologist who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, described many of the fishes of North America and South America for the first time....
& Allen, 1942).
- Genus SternarchogitonSternarchogitonSternarchogiton is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, with four known species. They are distinguished from other apteronotid genera by details of the skull and the broad descending blades of the pterygiophores in the anal fin...
- Sternarchogiton labiatusSternarchogiton labiatusSternarchogiton labiatus is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. Its species name labiatus comes from the Latin labium, meaning "lip", referring to a distinctive three-lobed structure on its lower lips. S. labiatus is only known from the Rio Tefé, at a depth of 6–14...
de Santana & Crampton, 2007 - Sternarchogiton nattereriSternarchogiton nattereriSternarchogiton nattereri is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. It is native to the Amazon River system and feeds on sponges. Unlike other members of the genus Sternarchogiton, there is pronounced sexual dimorphism in S. nattereri, with reproductively mature males...
(SteindachnerFranz SteindachnerFranz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...
, 1868). - Sternarchogiton porcinumSternarchogiton porcinumSternarchogiton porcinum is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. It is native to deep river channels in the Río Huallaga, Río Napo, and Río Amazonas in Peru, and in the Río Orinoco in Venezuela. Many specimens once identified as S. porcinum from the Brazilian Amazon...
EigenmannCarl H. EigenmannCarl H. Eigenmann was an ichthyologist who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, described many of the fishes of North America and South America for the first time....
& Allen, 1942. - Sternarchogiton pretoSternarchogiton pretoSternarchogiton preto is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae. It is native to large river channels and major side branches in the Amazon Basin, and is common in the Rio Tefé and the Rio Solimões to a depth of 14 m. It is found in both whitewater and blackwater habitats...
de Santana & Crampton, 2007
- Sternarchogiton labiatus
- Genus Sternarchorhamphus
- Sternarchorhamphus muelleri (Castelnau, 1855).
- Genus Sternarchorhynchus
- Sternarchorhynchus britskii Campos-da-Paz, 2000.
- Sternarchorhynchus curumim de Santana & Crampton, 2006.
- Sternarchorhynchus curvirostris (BoulengerGeorge Albert BoulengerGeorge Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1887). - Sternarchorhynchus mesensis Campos-da-Paz, 2000.
- Sternarchorhynchus mormyrus (SteindachnerFranz SteindachnerFranz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...
, 1868). - Sternarchorhynchus oxyrhynchus (MüllerJohannes Peter MüllerJohannes Peter Müller , was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist not only known for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge.-Early years and education:...
& TroschelFranz Hermann TroschelFranz Hermann Troschel was a German zoologist who was born in Spandau. He studied mathematics and natural history at the University of Berlin, and beginning in 1840 was an assistant to Martin Lichtenstein at the Humboldt Museum of Natural History in Berlin...
, 1849). - Rosen knifefish, Sternarchorhynchus roseni Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Genus Tembeassu
- Tembeassu maraunaTembeassu maraunaTembeassu marauna is a species of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae and the only member of its genus, known only from three specimens collected from the upper Paraná River, Brazil, in 1965. This fish can be identified by fleshy extensions at the tips of its upper and lower jaws,...
Triques, 1998
- Tembeassu marauna