''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wo ...

river basins in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

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 in total length. They feed on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

and can be found quite deep, with ''A. devenanzii'' recorded down to .

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * ''

Adontosternarchus balaenops ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' (

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

, 1878) * ''

Adontosternarchus clarkae ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985 * ''

Adontosternarchus devenanzii ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' Mago-Leccia, Lundberg & Baskin, 1985 * ''

Adontosternarchus duartei ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' de Santana &

Vari Vari ( el, Βάρη) is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal u ...

, 2012de Santana, C.D. & Vari, R.P. (2012): New Species of ''Adontosternarchus'' (Gymnotiformes, Apteronotidae) from the Rio Purus Basin, Brazil. ''Copeia, 2012 (3): 535-540.'' * ''

Adontosternarchus nebulosus ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' Lundberg & Cox Fernandes, 2007 * ''

Adontosternarchus sachsi ''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of ghost knifefishes found in 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 ...

'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1877)

References

Apteronotidae Fish of South America Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Max Mapes Ellis {{Gymnotiformes-stub