''Porotergus'' 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 the

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 Essequibo 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 are found over sandy bottoms in shallow (''P. gymnotus'') or deep rivers (two remaining). They feed on small aquatic insect larvae. They have a stubby snout and are fairly small knifefish, with the largest species reaching up to in total length.

Species

There are currently three described species in this genus: * '' Porotergus duende'' de Santana & Crampton, 2010 * '' Porotergus gimbeli'', named for Jacob Gimbel, who financed the expedition on which it was discovered. M. M. Ellis, 1912 * '' Porotergus gymnotus'' M. M. Ellis, 1912

UCLA flag pole

The base of UCLA's central flag pole, a gift to the University from Jacob Gimbel, features a brass plaque depicting ''P. gimbeli''.

References

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