Black ghost knifefish

Taxobox
name = Black ghost knifefish

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Gymnotiformes
familia = Apteronotidae
genus = "Apteronotus"
species = "A. albifrons"
binomial = "Apteronotus albifrons"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1766)

The black ghost knifefish, "Apteronotus albifrons", is a tropical fish belonging to the ghost knifefish family (Apteronotidae). They originate in South America in the Amazon Basin in Peru and from Venezuela through Paraguay in the Paraná Rivers. They are becoming popular in aquaria. The fish is all black except for two white rings on its tail, and a white blaze on its nose, which can occasionally extend into a stripe down its back. It moves mainly by undulating a long fin on its underside. It will grow to a maximum length of 25 inches (60 centimeters).

They are nocturnal, but they are weakly electric fish and use an electric organ and receptors distributed over the length of their body in order to locate insect larvae. Along with Peters' elephantnose fish they are the most studied of the active electrosensing fish [Nelson ME and MacIver MA (1999) Prey capture in the weakly electric fish Apteronotus albifrons: sensory acquisition strategies and electrosensory consequences. J. Exp. Biol. 202, 1195-1203, [http://nelson.beckman.uiuc.edu/pubs/Nelson_MacIver99.pdf pdf] ] .

The black ghost knifefish natively lives in fast moving, sandy bottom creeks in a tropical climate. They prefer water with a 6.0 - 8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5.0 - 19.0 dGH, and a temperature range of 73-82 F (23-28 C). South American natives believe that the ghosts of the departed take up residence in these fish. [Axelrod, Herbert R. (1996). "Exotic Tropical Fishes". T.F.H. Publications. ISBN 0-87666-543-1] hence the name.

In aquaria

These fish require a minimum tank size of 75 US gallons (280 litres) due to their large size. They should not be kept with neon tetras and other very small fish because the black ghost knifefish will eat the small fish. Black ghost knife fish prefer highly oxygenated air pockets and will spend many an hour reversing into "bubble walls" made by air filter stonesFact|date=August 2008 . In the aquarium black ghost knifefish will eat carnivore pellets, bloodworms and feeder fish. They will also eat peas, earthworms and frozen community fish foods.

Due to their weak electric discharge, a close, contained group of knife fish (as in an aquarium) will line up side by sideFact|date=April 2008.

ee also

* List of freshwater aquarium fish species

References

Links

* [http://www.neuromech.northwestern.edu/ The MacIver Lab Homepage]
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