Melanosternarchus amaru

Melanosternarchus amaru Bernt, Crampton, Orfinger & Albert, 2018

Upload your photos and videos
 Google image
Image of Melanosternarchus amaru
No image available for this species;
drawing shows typical species in Apteronotidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gymnotiformes (Knifefishes) > Apteronotidae (Ghost knifefishes) > Apteronotinae
Etymology: Melanosternarchus: Name from Greel 'melas' meaning black in reference to dark pigmentation and presence in blackwater rivers, and 'sternarchus', a name commonly used in apteronotid taxonomy, from the Greek 'sternon'. (chest) and archos (rectum), referring to the anterior position of the anus; amaru: Name from the Quechuan amaru, a mythical serpent, referring to the snakelike shape of this fish; noun in apposition.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; pelagic-neritic. Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

South America: Brazil and Peru, Amazon River.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 27.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 137449)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Albert, James S. | Collaborators

Bernt, M.J., W.G.R. Crampton, A.B. Orfinger and J.S. Albert, 2018. Melanosternarchus amaru, a new genus and species of electric ghost knifefish (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae) from the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 4378(4):451-479. (Ref. 137449)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |