Gymnotus choco Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003

Open encyclopedia reference

Gymnotus choco, commonly known as the cuchillo (Spanish for "knife") or beringo, is an electric knifefish. G. choco is distinguished from its cogenerate species group by a color pattern possessing pale yellow bands oriented obliquely, wherein the interband margins are wavy or even irregular; one to three Y-shaped dark bands occur on its body's posterior section; and its pale bands do not extend above the fish's lateral line on its body's anterior two-thirds. G. choco is most similar to G. paraguensis from the Pantanal in Brazil and Paraguay. From the latter, it is distinguished by having a narrower mouth, a more cylindrical body, and a longer preanal distance.

Wikipedia contributors, Gymnotus choco; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:41:40.837346+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Gymnotus choco Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003

Name authority

Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Gymnotiformes

Family

Gymnotidae

Genus

Gymnotus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderGymnotiformes
11. suborderPulseoidei Janzen, Sabaj, Crampton & Lovejoy, 2026
12. superfamilyGymnotoidea Rafinesque, 1815
13. familyGymnotidae Rafinesque, 1815
14. genusGymnotus Linnaeus, 1758
15. speciesGymnotus choco Albert, Crampton & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2003

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnotus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 39 records assigned to Gymnotidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Albert, J. S., & Crampton, W. G. R. (2003). Seven new species of the neotropical electric fish Gymnotus (Teleostei, Gymnotiformes) with a redescription of G. carapo (Linnaeus). Zootaxa, 287: 1–54. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.287.1.1 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3HVM8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.