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Hypopomidae

Hypopomidae
Steatogenys elegans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gymnotiformes
Suborder: Sternopygoidei
Superfamily: Rhamphichthyoidea
Family: Hypopomidae
Mago-Leccia, 1978
Genera

See text

The Hypopomidae are a family of fishes in the order Gymnotiformes known as the bluntnose knifefish. They may also be called grass or leaf knifefishes.[1] These electric fish are not often eaten, of little commercial importance, rarely kept as aquarium fish, and poorly studied; however, species in this family may constitute a significant fraction of the biomass in the areas they inhabit.[2]

These fish originate from fresh water in Panama and South America.[1] The Hypopomidae are confined to the humid neotropics, ranging the Río de la Plata of Argentina (35°S) to the Río Tuira of Panama (8°N). Hypopomids are known from the continental waters of all South American countries except Chile, and are most diverse in the Amazon Basin.[2]

  1. ^ a b Nelson, J.S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.
  2. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Hypopomidae". FishBase. November 2014 version.

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