Adontosternarchus

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Adontosternarchus
Adontosternarchus balaenops.jpg
Adontosternarchus clarkae
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gymnotiformes
Family: Apteronotidae
Subfamily: Apteronotinae
Genus: Adontosternarchus
M. M. Ellis, 1912 [1]
Type species
Sternarchus sachsi
Peters, 1877 [1]

Adontosternarchus is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in tropical South America. They have blunt snouts, a dark-spotted or -mottled pattern on a pale background (however, spotting/mottling can be so dense that individuals appear almost all dark) and reach up to 18.5–32.2 cm (7.3–12.7 in) in total length. [2] [3] [4] They feed on zooplankton and can be found quite deep, with A. devenanzii recorded down to 84 m (276 ft). [2]

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: [3] [4]

References

  1. 1 2 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Apteronotidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 van der Sleen, P.; J.S. Albert, eds. (2017). Field Guide to the Fishes of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Guianas. Princeton University Press. p. 325. ISBN   978-0691170749.
  3. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Adontosternarchus". FishBase . August 2017 version.
  4. 1 2 3 de Santana, C.D. & Vari, R.P. (2012): New Species of Adontosternarchus (Gymnotiformes, Apteronotidae) from the Rio Purus Basin, Brazil. Copeia, 2012 (3): 535-540.