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African knifefish
| Gymnarchus niloticus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Osteoglossiformes |
| 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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The African knifefish, Gymnarchus niloticus – also called the aba aba[a] – is an electric fish, living at the bottoms of rivers and lakes. It is the only species in the genus Gymnarchus and the family Gymnarchidae, within the order Osteoglossiformes.[1][2] It is a long slender fish with no pelvic or anal fins, and a tail fin shaped like a rat's tail. It swims using its elongated dorsal fin, allowing it to keep its body straight while it moves. This in turn enables it to produce a steady but weak electric field, which it uses to locate its prey. It is large for a river fish; adults can reach 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in length and 19 kg (42 lb) in weight.
In 1950, Hans Lissmann noticed that the fish could swim equally well forwards or backwards, clearly relying on a sense other than vision. He demonstrated that it could locate prey by electroreception, making it the first fish known to have this ability.
The fish is considered good to eat in West Africa, where it has a wide but scattered distribution. It is important culturally, as it is given as a gift in community celebrations and marriages. Its conservation status is globally of least concern, but it faces local threats in West Africa from human activities including overfishing and pollution.
- ^ a b Lalèyè, P.; Azeroual, A.; Entsua-Mensah, M.; et al. (2020). "Gymnarchus niloticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T181688A134949091. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T181688A134949091.en.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Gymnarchus niloticus". FishBase.
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