Gymnarchus niloticus | |
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Gymnarchus swims with its back straight, detecting prey by the way they distort the electric field it generates. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Osteoglossiformes |
Suborder: | Notopteroidei |
Family: | Gymnarchidae Bleeker, 1859 |
Genus: | Gymnarchus Cuvier, 1829 |
Species: | G. niloticus
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Binomial name | |
Gymnarchus niloticus Cuvier, 1829
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Aba IUCN range
Extant (resident)
Presence Uncertain & Introduced
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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. It is found in swamps, lakes and rivers in the Nile, Turkana, Chad, Niger, Volta, Senegal, and Gambia basins.[1][2]