Biology:Glass knifefish

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Short description: Family of fishes

Glass knifefishes
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Recent
Eigenmannia virescens
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gymnotiformes
Suborder: Sternopygoidei
Superfamily: Apteronotoidea
Family: Sternopygidae
Cope, 1871[1]

Glass knifefishes are fishes in the family Sternopygidae in the order Gymnotiformes. Species are also known as rattail knifefishes.[2]

These fishes inhabit freshwater streams and rivers in Panama and South America.[2] Many species are specialized for life in the deep (more than 20 m or 66 ft) swiftly moving waters of large river channels, like that of the Amazon and its major tributaries[3] where they have been observed swimming vertically.[4] Sternopygus species inhabit both streams and rivers.[5]

Many species are highly compressed laterally and translucent in life.[5] These fish have villiform (brush-like) teeth on the upper and lower jaws. The snout is relatively short. The eyes are relatively large, with a diameter equal to or greater than the distance between nares. The anal fin originates at the isthmus (the strip of flesh on the ventral surface between the gill covers). The maximum length is 140 cm (55 in) in Sternopygus macrurus.

Eigenmannia vicentespelaea is the only cave-dwelling gymnotiform. Humboldtichthys kirschbaumi (formerly genus Ellisella) from Upper Miocene of Bolivia is the only fossil gymnotiform.[2]

These fish have a tone-like electric organ discharge (EOD) that occurs monophasically.

Some of these species are aquarium fishes.

Genera

There are 30 living species of glass knifefish, grouped into seven genera:[6][7][1]

  • Subfamily Eigenmanniinae Mago-Leccia, 1978 (glass knifefishes)
    • Genus Archolaemus Korringa, 1970
    • Genus Distocyclus Mago-Leccia 1978
    • Genus Eigenmannia Jordan & Evermann, 1896
    • Genus Japigny Meunier, Jégu & Keith, 2011
    • Genus Rhabdolichops Eigenmann & Allen, 1942
    • Genus Rhinosternarchus Dutra, Peixoto, Abrahão, Wosiacki, Menezes & de Santana, 2021[8]
  • Subfamily Sternopyginae Cope, 1871 (rattail knifefishes)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer; Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675. https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nelson, Joseph, S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-471-25031-9. 
  3. ↑ Crampton, W.G.R., Hulen, K., & Albert, J.S. (2004). "Sternopygus branco, a new species of Neotropical electric fish (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae) from the lowland Amazon basin, with descriptions of ecology and electric organ discharges." Copeia 2004(2): 244–258.
  4. ↑ Kate Humble (2005). Amazon Abyss (TV-Series). BBC.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Sternopygidae" in FishBase. Apr 2007 version.
  6. ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Sternopygidae" in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  7. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron; van der Laan, Richard, eds. "Genera in the family Sternopygidae". California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?tbl=genus&family=Sternopygidae. 
  8. ↑ Dutra, Guilherme Moreira; Peixoto, Luiz Antônio Wanderley; Abrahão, Vitor Pimenta; Wosiacki, Wolmar Benjamin; Menezes, Naércio Aquino; de Santana, Carlos David (2021). "Morphology-based phylogeny of Eigenmanniinae Mago-Leccia, 1978 (Teleostei: Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae), with a new classification" (in en). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59 (8): 2010–2059. doi:10.1111/jzs.12535. ISSN 1439-0469. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzs.12535. 
  9. ↑ Albert, J.S.; Fink, W.L. (2007). "Phylogenetic relationships of fossil Neotropical electric fishes (Osteichthyes: Gymnotiformes) from the Upper Miocene of Bolivia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (1): 17–25. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[17:PROFNE2.0.CO;2]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/213768967_Phylogenetic_relationships_of_fossil_Neotropical_electric_fishes_Osteichthyes_Gymnotiformes_from_the_Upper_Miocene_of_Bolivia. 

Further reading

  • Albert, J.S. 2003. Family Sternopygidae. Pp 493–497 in R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander & C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds). Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Edipucrs, Porto Alegre, 735p.
  • Meunier, F.J.; Jégu, M.; Keith, P. 2011: A new genus and species of neotropical electric fish, Japigny kirschbaum (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae), from French Guiana. Cybium, 35(1): 47–53. ISSN 0399-0974 abstract only seen

Wikidata ☰ Q220778 entry



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