Sternarchorhynchus curumim (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae), a new species of tube-snouted ghost electric knifefish from the lowland Amazon basin, Brazil.
Author
Carlos David de Santana
Author
William G. R. Crampton
text
Zootaxa
2006
1166
57
68
http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9F94D386-15AE-424A-88C9-4169AB93DB60
journal article
z01166p057
[[
Sternarchorhynchus Castelnau
]]
Species of the tube-snouted electric knifefish genus
Sternarchorhynchus Castelnau
, are common components of the deepwater benthic fauna of many large rivers throughout the Atlantic drainages of South America (Lopez-Rojas et al., 1984; Lundberg et al., 1987; Marrero, 1987; Marrero et al., 1987; Marrero & Taphorn, 1991; Marrero & Winemiller, 1993; Barletta, 1995; Garcia, 1995; Lasso et al., 1997; Campos-da-Paz, 2000; CoxFernandes, 1999; Cox-Fernandes et al., 2004).
Sternarchorhynchus
species generate weak periodic (wave-type) electric organ discharges (EODs) with known rates of 944-1992 Hz (Kramer et al., 1981; Crampton, 1998; Crampton & Albert, 2006). Currently, six valid species of
Sternarchorhynchus
are recognized (Mago-Leccia, 1994; Campos-da-Paz, 2000; Albert, 2003), of which four are known from the upper Amazon basin in Brazil:
S. mormyrus (Steindachner)
,
S. roseni Mago-Leccia
,
S. oxyrhynchus (
Mueller
& Troschel)
, and
S. cf. curvirostris
(Barletta, 1995; Crampton, 1998; Cox-Fernandes et al., 2004; Crampton & Albert, 2006).
Sternarchorhynchus roseni
is also known from the Orinoco basin, and
S. oxyrhynchus
is known from the Orinoco and Essequibo basins (Lopez-Rojas et al., 1984; Marrero & Taphorn, 1991; Mago-Leccia, 1994).
Sternarchorhynchus curvirostris (Boulenger)
was originally described from Canelos, Ecuador (Mago-Leccia, 1994).
Sternarchorhynchus britskii Campos-da-Paz
is known from the
Parana
River basin, and
S. mesensis Campos-da-Paz
is known from the upper Tocantins River basin (Camposda-Paz, 2000).
Sternarchorhynchus
is unquestionably represented by many other undescribed species (e.g., Campos-da-Paz, 1992; Crampton & Albert, 2006) and is currently the most diverse genus in the Sternarchorhynchinae (Albert, 2001). This contrasts with several apteronotid genera that have low species-level diversity, including the monotypic genera
Sternarchorhamphus Eigenmann
,
Orthosternarchus Boulenger
,
Parapteronotus Albert
, and
Platyurosternarchus Mago-Leccia
(Mago-Leccia, 1994; Albert & Campos-da-Paz, 1998; Albert, 2001; Albert & Crampton, 2005).
At least one species of
Sternarchorhynchus
,
S. roseni
, is known to exhibit a sexual dimorphism in which males develop a crown of external teeth on the lower jaw (MagoLeccia, 1994; Py-Daniel & Cox-Fernandes, 2005).
Sternarchorhychus mormyrus
exhibits variation in cranial morphology, with mature males exhibiting a wider snout than females (pers. obs.). The remaining described species of
Stenarchorhynchus
exhibit no dimorphism (Mago-Leccia, 1994; Campos-da-Paz, 1992, 2000). Here we describe a new species from deepwater channels of the lowland Amazon basin of Brazil, with information on its electric organ discharges and ecology.