White-fronted knifefish
| White-fronted knifefish | ||||||||||||
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White-fronted knifefish ( Apteronotus albifrons ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Apteronotus albifrons | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The white-forehead knife fish ( Apteronotus albifrons ) is a freshwater fish from the order of the New World knife fish (Gymnotiformes). It occurs in South America east of the Andes from the Orinoco to the Río de la Plata and in the Río Magdalena west of the Andes .
features
White-forehead knifefish have an elongated body that is strongly flattened on the sides. A small caudal fin is present. The dorsal and pelvic fins are absent. The fish are about 50 cm long. The long anal fin , which extends almost the entire length of the body, is the main driving organ of the fish. It enables them to swim both forwards and backwards using undulating movements. The white-fronted knife fish is black-blue to dark brown in color. The only color markings are two white bands around the tail fin stalk and a narrow white line on the forehead. The fish have a weak electrical organ that consists of converted nerve cells and extends to the tail.
Way of life
White-fronted knifefish live exclusively in rivers with strong currents and sandy bottoms. They are nocturnal and feed mainly on insect larvae.
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig et al. 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
- Günther Sterba (Ed.), Gert Brückner: Encyclopedia of Aquaristics and Special Ichthyology. Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen u. a. 1978, ISBN 3-7888-0252-9 .
