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Despite the name, the electric eel is a type of knifefish. The Gymnotiformes / dʒ ɪ m ˈ n ɒ t ɪ f ɔːr m iː z / are an order of teleost bony fishes commonly known as Neotropical knifefish or South American knifefish. They have long bodies and swim using undulations of their elongated anal fin.
Common names of fish can refer to a single species; to an entire group of species, such as a genus or family; or to multiple unrelated species or groups. Ambiguous common names are accompanied by their possible meanings. Scientific names for individual species and higher taxa are included in parentheses.
Knifefish may refer to several knife-shaped fishes: The Neotropical or weakly electric knifefishes, order Gymnotiformes, containing five families: Family Gymnotidae (banded knifefishes and the electric eel) Family Rhamphichthyidae (sand knifefishes) Family Hypopomidae (bluntnose knifefishes) Family Sternopygidae (glass and rat-tail knifefishes)
Like the other gymnotiforms, gymnotids have classic knifefish bodies. The body is long and eel-like, the dorsal fin and pelvic fins are absent, and the anal fin is extremely long and used for movement.
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Sand knifefish are freshwater electric fish of the family Rhamphichthyidae, from freshwater habitats in South America. [1] Just like most part of the members of the Gymnotiformes group, they also have elongated and compressed bodies and electric organs. The long anal fin actually extends from before the pectoral fins to the tip of the tail.
The African knifefish, Gymnarchus niloticus – also called the aba aba [a] – is an electric fish, living at the bottoms of rivers and lakes. It is the only species in the genus Gymnarchus and the family Gymnarchidae , within the order Osteoglossiformes .
The scales of the knifefish are extremely small, giving it a smooth appearance broken only by its fairly prominent lateral line. Apart from its eyes, the lateral line is the knifefish's most important sensory apparatus. The African brown knifefish is nocturnal and uses the nerve-filled pits running down its body to navigate lightless waters. In ...