''Hyperopisus'' is a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Mormyridae The Mormyridae, sometimes called "elephantfish" (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a superfamily of weakly electric fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the largest family in the order, with around 200 sp ...

, the elephantfishes. The only species in the genus is ''Hyperopisus bebe''. This species is known from many rivers in the northern half of Africa, ranging from the

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

to the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

basin. It reaches a length of .

Biology

The Bebe morymid inhabits both still and flowing bodies of water. The species' diet consists mainly of mollusks. It possesses electroreceptors over its head and on the ventral and dorsal regions of the body, but they are absent from the side and the caudal peduncle where the electric organ is located.

Subspecies

* ''Hyperopisus bebe bebe'' ( Lacépède 1803) * ''Hyperopisus bebe occidentalis'' Günther 1866

References

Weakly electric fish Mormyridae Monotypic ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Theodore Gill Fish described in 1803 {{Osteoglossiformes-stub