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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.
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)
Gymnarchus niloticus – commonly known as the aba, aba aba, frankfish, freshwater rat-tail, poisson-cheval, or African knifefish – is an electric fish, and the only species in the genus Gymnarchus and the family Gymnarchidae within the order Osteoglossiformes.
They are sometimes referred to by the English name banded knifefish, [1] although this typically is reserved for the most widespread species, G. carapo. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Overall Gymnotus is the most widespread genus in the order Gymnotiformes .
Rhamphichthys (Rhamphos = Greek for beak and Ichthys = Greek for fish) is a genus of fish that includes the South American sand knifefish. These fish are eel shaped (or anguiform) with a distinct beak like snout which gave them their name. [1]
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 .
Glass knifefishes are fishes in the family Sternopygidae in the order Gymnotiformes.Species are also known as rattail knifefishes. [1]These fishes inhabit freshwater streams and rivers in Panama and South America. [1]
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.