Ghost knifefish

Taxobox
name = Ghost knifefishes


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Black ghost knifefish, "Apteronotus albifrons"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Gymnotiformes
subordo = Sternopygoidei
superfamilia = Apteronotoidea
familia = Apteronotidae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision ="Adontosternarchus" "Apteronotus" "Compsaraia" "Magosternarchus" "Megadontognathus" "Orthosternarchus" "Parapteronotus" "Platyurosternarchus" "Porotergus" "Sternarchella" "Sternarchogiton" "Sternarchorhamphus" "Sternarchorhynchus" See text for species.The ghost knifefishes are a family, Apteronotidae, of knifefishes. These fish can be found in the freshwater of Panama and South America.cite book | title = Fishes of the World | last = Nelson | first = Joseph, S. | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year = 2006 | ISBN = 0471250317]

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 longitutdinal 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.

pecies

FishBase lists 48 species in thirteen genera, though its diversity is as high as 64 species including those undergoing description, with many more expected.FishBase family | family = Apteronotidae | month = February | year = 2006] Another genus is being described. A number of additional species have been discovered recently, for example "Apteronotus milesi" in 2005,cite journal | journal = Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters | url = http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/pdf/ief16_3_03.pdf | volume = 16 | issue = 3 | year = 2005 | pages = 223–230 | title = Apteronotus milesi, a new species of ghost knifefish (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae) from the Cauca River, with a key to apteronotids from the Rio Magdalena-Cauca basin, Colombia. | author = de Santana & Maldonado-Ocampo] and many more are expected to be found.
* Genus "Adontosternarchus"
** "Adontosternarchus balaenops" (Cope, 1878).
** "Adontosternarchus clarkae" Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985.
** "Adontosternarchus devenanzii" Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985.
** Clouded ghost knifefish, "Adontosternarchus nebulosus" Lundberg & Fernandez, 2007. [cite journal | journal = Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume = 156 | year = 2007 | pages = 27–37 | title = A new species of South American ghost knifefish (Apteronotidae: Adontosternarchus) from the Amazon Basin. | author = Lundberg & Fernandez | doi = 10.1635/0097-3157(2007)156 [27:ANSOSA] 2.0.CO;2]
** "Adontosternarchus sachsi" (Peters, 1877).
* Genus "Apteronotus"
** Black ghost knifefish, "Apteronotus albifrons" (Linnaeus, 1766).
** "Apteronotus apurensis" Fernández-Yépez, 1968.
** "Apteronotus bonapartii" (Castelnau, 1855).
** "Apteronotus brasiliensis" (Reinhardt, 1852).
** "Apteronotus camposdapazi" de Santana & Lehmann, 2006. [cite journal | journal = Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | year = 2006 | pages = 261–266 | title = Apteronotus camposdapazi, a new species of black ghost electric knifefish, from the Rio Tocatins basin, Brazil (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae). | author = de Santana & Lehmann]
** "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 galvisi" de Santana et al., 2007. [cite journal | journal = Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters | volume = 18 | year = 2007 | pages = 117–124 | title = Apteronotus galvisi, a new species of electric ghost knifefish from the Río Meta basin, Colombia (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae). | author = de Santana, Maldonado-Ocampo & Crampton]
** "Apteronotus jurubidae" (Fowler, 1944).
** Brown ghost knifefish, "Apteronotus leptorhynchus" (Ellis, 1912).
** "Apteronotus macrolepis" (Steindachner, 1881).
** "Apteronotus macrostomus" (Günther, 1870).
** "Apteronotus magdalenensis" (Miles, 1945).
** "Apteronotus marauna" (Triques, 1998).
** "Apteronotus mariae" (Eigenmann & Fisher, 1914).
** "Apteronotus milesi" de Santana & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2005.
** "Apteronotus rostratus" (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913).
** "Apteronotus spurrellii" (Regan, 1914).
* Genus "Compsaraia"
** "Compsaraia compsa" (Mago-Leccia, 1994).
** "Compsaraia samueli" (Albert & Crampton, 2007).
* Genus "Magosternarchus"
** "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 tamandua" (Boulenger, 1898).
* Genus "Parapteronotus"
** "Parapteronotus hasemani" (Ellis, 1913).
* Genus "Pariosternarchus"
** "Pariosternarchus amazonensis" Albert & Crampton, 2006. [cite journal | journal = Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | year = 2006 | pages = 267–274 | title = Pariosternarchus amazonensis: a new genus and species of Neotropical electric fish (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae) from the Amazon River. | author = Albert & Crampton]
* 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 schotti" (Steindachner, 1868).
** "Sternarchella sima" Starks, 1913.
** "Sternarchella terminalis" (Eigenmann & Allen, 1942).
* Genus "Sternarchogiton"
** "Sternarchogiton nattereri" (Steindachner, 1868).
** "Sternarchogiton porcinum" Eigenmann & Allen, 1942.
* Genus "Sternarchorhamphus"
** "Sternarchorhamphus muelleri" (Castelnau, 1855).
* Genus "Sternarchorhynchus"
** "Sternarchorhynchus britskii" Campos-da-Paz, 2000.
** "Sternarchorhynchus curumim" de Santana & Crampton, 2006. [cite journal | journal = Zootaxa | url = http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01166p068f.pdf | volume = 1166 | year = 2006 | pages = 57–68 | title = Sternarchorhynchus curumim (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae), a new species of tube-snouted ghost electric knifefish from the lowland Amazon basin, Brazil
author = de Santana & Crampton]
** "Sternarchorhynchus curvirostris" (Boulenger, 1887).
** "Sternarchorhynchus mesensis" Campos-da-Paz, 2000.
** "Sternarchorhynchus mormyrus" (Steindachner, 1868).
** "Sternarchorhynchus oxyrhynchus" (Müller & Troschel, 1849).
** Rosen knifefish, "Sternarchorhynchus roseni" Mago-Leccia, 1994.

References