''Adontosternarchus'' is a genus of

ghost knifefish The ghost knifefishes are a family, Apteronotidae, of ray-finned fishes in the order Gymnotiformes. These fish are native to Panama and South America. They inhabit a wide range of freshwater habitats, but more than half the species in the family ...

es 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 technology c ...

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 wor ...

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'' (

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'' Mago-Leccia,

Lundberg Lundberg is a surname of Danish language, Swedish origin. Lundberg means "wooded hill" or "mountain grove". Notable people with the surname include: A *Agneta Lundberg (born 1947), Swedish Social Democratic politician *Alfred Lundberg (1852–1935 ...

& Baskin, 1985 * '' Adontosternarchus devenanzii'' Mago-Leccia,

& Baskin, 1985 * '' Adontosternarchus duartei'' 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 un ...

, 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''

& Cox Fernandes, 2007 * '' Adontosternarchus sachsi'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1877)

References

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