Family Gymnotidae - Naked-back knifefishes
Order : Gymnotiformes Gymnotidae
Class : Teleostei
No. in FishBase : Genera : 2 | Species : 45 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : Yes | Brackish : No | Marine : No
Division : Primary freshwater
Aquarium : some
First Fossil Record : middle   Tertiary   upper   Miocene Ref. Nelson, J.S. 1994
Remark : Naked-back knifefishes are restricted to freshwaters of Central and South America. Body eel-like (compressed or rounded); about 100 vertebrae (31-43 precaudals, Ref. 26457); pelvic girdle and fins absent; dorsal fin absent; anal fin extremely long from near pectorals to near tip of body. Weak electrical charge. Nocturnal fishes, mostly occurring in quiet waters from deep rivers to swamps. May bury themselves in the substrate in strongly flowing waters. Maximum length 60 cm. Includes now the monotypic Electrophoridae. Maximum length 2.3 m.
Etymology : Greek, gymnotes, -etos = nudity ( Ref. 45335).
Reproductive guild : nonguarders
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : Nelson, J.S. 1994
Coordinator : Nelson, J.S. 1994
Deep Fin Classification : Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Actinopteri | Neopterygii | Teleostei | Osteoglossocephalai | Clupeocephala | Otomorpha | Ostariophysi | | Otophysa | | | | | | Siluriphysae | Gymnotiformes | Gymnotoidei | | Gymnotidae

Show species images | Show valid names | Nominal species list | CAS specimen photos | References

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Gymnotidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

Show all | Show only accepted name | Show only accepted and original names
Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Gymnotinae
Gymnotus carapo Linnaeus, 1758
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus fasciatus Pallas, 1769
ambiguousotheroriginal
! Gymnotum fasciatum Pallas, 1769
ambiguousotheroriginal
Gymnotus albus Pallas, 1769
ambiguousotheroriginal
! Gymnotum album Pallas, 1769
ambiguousotheroriginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Gymnotus putaol Lacepède, 1800
synonymjuniororiginal
Carapus macrourus Cuvier, 1870
synonymjuniororiginal
! Sternopygus carapus Günther, 1870
ambiguousotheroriginal
Gymnotus inaequilabiatus (Valenciennes, 1839)
acceptedseniornew
Carapus inaequilabiatus Valenciennes, 1839
synonymseniororiginal
Gymnotus pantherinus (Steindachner, 1908)
acceptedseniornew
Giton fasciatus pantherinus Steindachner, 1908
synonymseniororiginal
Gymnotus coatesi La Monte, 1935
acceptedseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Gymnotus cylindricus La Monte, 1935
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus anguillaris Hoedeman, 1962
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus coropinae (non Hoedeman, 1962)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Gymnotus coropinae Hoedeman, 1962
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus cataniapo Mago-Leccia, 1994
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus pedanopterus Mago-Leccia, 1994
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus stenoleucus Mago-Leccia, 1994
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus maculosus Albert & Miller, 1995
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus bahianus Campos-da-Paz & Costa, 1996
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus sylvius Albert & Fernandes-Matioli, 1999
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus arapaima Albert & Crampton, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus jonasi Albert & Crampton, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus mamiraua Albert & Crampton, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus melanopleura Albert & Crampton, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus onca Albert & Crampton, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus diamantinensis Campos-da-Paz, 2002
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus choco Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus esmeraldas Albert & Crampton, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus henni Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus javari Albert, Crampton & Hagedorn, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus panamensis Albert & Crampton, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus paraguensis Albert & Crampton, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus tigre Albert & Crampton, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus ucamara Crampton, Lovejoy & Albert, 2003
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus ardilai Maldonado-Ocampo & Albert, 2004
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus curupira Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus obscurus Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus pantanal Fernandes, Albert, Daniel-Silva, Lopes, Crampton & Almeida-Toledo, 2005
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus varzea Crampton, Thorsen & Albert, 2005
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus chimarrao Cognato, Richer-de-Forges, Albert & Crampton, 2008
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus chaviro Maxime & Albert, 2009
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus omarorum Richer-de-Forges, Crampton & Albert, 2009
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus carapo (non Linnaeus, 1758)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Gymnotus tiquie Maxime, Lima & Albert, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus capanema Milhomem, Crampton, Pierczeka, Shetka, Silva & Nagamachi, 2012
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus interruptus Rangel-Pereira, 2012
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus capitimaculatus Rangel-Pereira, 2014
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus refugio Giora & Malabarba, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus cuia Craig, Malabarba, Crampton & Albert, 2018
acceptedseniororiginal
Gymnotus darwini Campos-da-Paz & de Santana, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
Electrophorinae
Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus, 1766)
acceptedseniornew
Gymnotus electricus Linnaeus, 1766
synonymseniororiginal
Gymnotus tremulus Houttuyn, 1764
synonymjuniororiginal
Gymnotus regius Chiaje, 1847
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Electrophorus varii de Santana, Wosiacki, Crampton, Sabaj, Dillman, Mendes-Júnior & Castro e Castro, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
Electrophorus voltai de Santana, Wosiacki, Crampton, Sabaj, Dillman, Castro e C., Bastos & Vari, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
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