Gymnotidae Rafinesque 1815

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 25

Family Gymnotidae Rafinesque 1815 ( Fig. 3C ). Gymnotids, Nakedback Knifefishes, Gymnotid Eels; Peces Cuchillo, Anguilas, Machetes

Description: Body elongate, strongly compressed to subcylindrical; usually less than 30 cm in length; mouth superior, lower jaw protruding; eyes very small; scales present, small; pelvic and dorsal fins absent; anal fin terminating at a point near the tip of the tail; usually brown in color ( Bussing 1998, Angulo et al. 2021, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Freshwater; North (southern Mexico only), Central and South America (Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and two species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 2; Bryconidae (A), Characidae (B), Gymnotidae (C), Loricariidae (D), Heptapteridae (E), Ariidae (F), Batrachoididae (G), Syngnathidae (H), Eleotridae (I), Gobiidae (J), Synbranchidae (K), Centropomidae (L), Polynemidae (M) and Paralichthyidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).