Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Gymnotiformes (Knifefishes) >
Gymnotidae (Naked-back knifefishes) > Gymnotinae
Etymology: Gymnotus: Greek, gymnos = naked (Ref. 45335); curupira: Named for the Igarapé Curupira, a forest stream near Tefé and the type locality of this species.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; depth range 0 - ? m (Ref. 55508). Tropical
South America: lowland Amazon basin in Brazil and Peru.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 23.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55508)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal soft rays: 230 - 320. Distinguished from its congeners endemic to the Amazon and Orinoco basins and the Guyana Shield in having a color pattern of 14-20 oblique, dark, pigment bands with wavy and irregular margins in which the majority of bands are branched ventrally to form inverted Y-shaped patterns (in adults), in which the dark bands are about twice as broad as the pale interbands and in which the bands rarely form X-shaped patterns at midbody. Further differs in having the following unique combination of characters: clear (unpigmented) patch at the caudal end of the anal-fin membrane in specimens 6-23.5 cm; bands never divided to form band pairs (Ref. 55508).
Facultative air-breathing in the genus (Ref. 126274); Inhabits mainly isolated swamp pools in the rain forest, which it can reach by moving over-land through moist leaf litter (Ref. 55508). Also occurs in small swamp pools that are never connected to streams and that dry out completely during periods of draught (Ref. 55508). Undertakes aerial respiration by gulping atmospheric air into the hypervascularized posterior chamber of the gas bladder (Ref. 55508). Observed to survive out of water for many hours on a moist substrate (Ref. 55508). Feeds mainly on chironomid larvae, insect nymphs and allochthonous invertebrates that fall from the forest canopy (Ref. 55508).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Crampton, W.G.R., D.H. Thorsen and J.S. Albert, 2005. Three new species from a diverse, sympatric assemblage of the electric fish Gymnotus (Gymnotiformes: Gymnotidae) in the lowland Amazon basin, with notes on ecology. Copeia 2005(1):82-99. (Ref. 55508)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.3 ±0.44 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (14 of 100).