Gnathonemus petersii (Günther, 1862)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Peters's elephant-nose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) is an African freshwater elephantfish in the genus Gnathonemus. Other names in English include elephantnose fish, long-nosed elephant fish, and Ubangi mormyrid, after the Ubangi River. The Latin name petersii is probably for the German naturalist Wilhelm Peters. The fish uses electrolocation to find prey, and has the largest brain-to-body oxygen use ratio of all known vertebrates (around 0.6).
Wikipedia contributors, Peters's elephantnose fish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:38:17.161727+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gnathonemus petersii (Günther, 1862)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1862)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Osteoglossiformes
- Family
- Mormyridae
- Genus
- Gnathonemus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderOsteoglossiformes
- familyMormyridae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusGnathonemus Gill, 1863
- speciesGnathonemus petersii (Günther, 1862)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gnathonemus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gnathonemus echidnorhynchus Pellegrin, 1924 | MormyridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gnathonemus barbatus Poll, 1967 | MormyridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gnathonemus longibarbis (Hilgendorf, 1888) | MormyridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gnathonemus histrio Fowler, 1936 Fowler, 1936 | synonym |
| Gnathonemus peters (Günther, 1862) (Günther, 1862) | synonym |
| Gnathonemus brevicaudatus Pellegrin, 1919 Pellegrin, 1919 | synonym |
| Gnathonemus petersi (Günther, 1862) (Günther, 1862) | synonym |
| Mormyrus petersii Günther, 1862 Günther, 1862 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1015207 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:6KNGM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.