Naked-back knifefish
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 Electric eel, Electrophorus electricus
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Electrophorus |
The naked-back knifefishes are a family (Gymnotidae) of knifefishes that are found only in fresh waters of Central America and South America.[1] All have organs adapted to the exploitation of bioelectricity. The family has 33 valid species in two genera.[2] There are a number of undescribed species known in museum collections.
These fish are nocturnal and mostly occur in quiet waters from deep rivers to swamps. In strongly-flowing waters they may bury themselves.[1]
[edit] Physical characteristics
Like the other gymnotiforms, Gymnotids have a classic knifefish body. The body is long and eel-like, the dorsal fin and pectoral fins are absent, and the anal fin is extremely long and used for movement.[1]
The sole member of Electrophorus is the electric eel, which produces both strong (up to 600 V) and weak (<1 V) electric discharges, for use in predation and communication/navigation, respectively. The electric eel is the largest of the gymnotiform fishes, growing up to more than 2 m (7 feet) in length. Species of Gymnotus reach up to about 100 cm in length.[2]
[edit] Species
There are 33 species in two genera:
- Genus Electrophorus
- Electric eel, Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus, 1766).
- Genus Gymnotus
- Gymnotus anguillaris Hoedeman, 1962.
- Gymnotus arapaima Albert & Crampton, 2001.
- Gymnotus ardilai Maldonado-Ocampo & Albert, 2004.
- Gymnotus bahianus Campos-da-Paz & Costa, 1996.
- Banded knifefish, Gymnotus carapo Linnaeus, 1758.
- Gymnotus cataniapo Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Gymnotus choco Albert, Crampton & Maldonado, 2003.
- Gymnotus coatesi La Monte, 1935.
- Gymnotus coropinae Hoedeman, 1962.
- Gymnotus curupira Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005.
- Gymnotus cylindricus La Monte, 1935.
- Gymnotus diamantinensis Campos-da-Paz, 2002.
- Gymnotus esmeraldas Albert & Crampton, 2003.
- Gymnotus henni Albert, Crampton & Maldonado, 2003.
- Gymnotus inaequilabiatus (Valenciennes, 1842).
- Gymnotus javari Albert, Crampton & Hagedorn, 2003.
- Gymnotus jonasi Albert & Crampton, 2001.
- Spotted knifefish, Gymnotus maculosus Albert & Miller, 1995.
- Gymnotus mamiraua Albert & Crampton, 2001.
- Gymnotus melanopleura Albert & Crampton, 2001.
- Gymnotus obscurus Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005.
- Gymnotus onca Albert & Crampton, 2001.
- Gymnotus panamensis Albert & Crampton, 2003.
- Gymnotus pantanal Fernandes, Albert, Daniel-Silva, Lopes, Crampton & Almeida-Toledo, 2005.
- Gymnotus pantherinus (Steindachner, 1908).
- Gymnotus paraguensis Albert & Crampton, 2003.
- Gymnotus pedanopterus Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Gymnotus stenoleucus Mago-Leccia, 1994.
- Gymnotus sylvius Albert & Fernandes-Matioli, 1999.
- Gymnotus tigre Albert & Crampton, 2003.
- Gymnotus ucamara Crampton, Lovejoy & Albert, 2003.
- Gymnotus varzea Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Gymnotidae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Apr 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ a b Nelson, Joseph, S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. ISBN 0471250317.
