''Microsternarchus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of bluntnose knifefish that is found in creeks and streams, often in areas with submerged vegetation, roots and

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

, in the

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

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, Essequibo–

Rupununi The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local indigenous peoples as ''Raponani'', flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word '' ...

and

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

basins in South America.Cox Fernandes, C., Nogueira, A., Williston, A. & Alves-Gomes, J.A. (2015): A new species of electric knifefish from the rio Negro, Amazon basin (Gymnotiformes: Hypopomidae, Microsternarchini). ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 164 (1): 213-227.'' The two recognized species are both small knifefish, with the largest being ''M. bilineatus'' at up to in total length. The other is ''M. brevis'', which at up to only is the world's smallest knifefish. ''Microsternarchus'' are very similar to ''

Brachyhypopomus ''Brachyhypopomus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Hypopomidae (bluntnose knifefish) native primarily to tropical and subtropical South America (south to the Río de la Plata Basin), although a single species, ''B. occidentali ...

''.

Species

There are currently 2 recognized species in this genus: * '' Microsternarchus bilineatus'' Fernández-Yépez, 1968 (Brazil, Venezuela) * '' Microsternarchus brevis'' Cox Fernandes, A. Nogueira, A. D. Williston & Alves-Gomes, 2015 (Brazil)

References

Hypopomidae Taxa named by Augustín Fernández-Yépez Knifefish of Brazil Freshwater fish genera {{Gymnotiformes-stub