From Peru we have received extremely pretty knife fish of the species Steatogenys elegans. The genus Steatogenys comprises three species, which are all zebra-like striped. With a total length of approximately 20 cm, they remain comparatively small, only S. ocellatus clearly becomes bigger with 30 cm. The three species are very similar in color. One can distinguish them best on the basis of the anal-fin-coloring. S. elegans has a largely colourless anal fin, this fin is strongly marbled in S. duidae and dark in S. ocellatus with light spots along the belly.
Steatogenys are considered comparatively peaceful among each other and against other fish. They mainly feed on small invertebrates such as mosquito larvae, crustaceans or worms.
Around the mouth the animals show extremely pronounced sensory pits. With this, they can still perceive the electrical activity of the muscle activity of a wriggling worm. The eyes are overgrown with a fine skin and not very functional. This clearly shows that these knife fish, which are found in nature in the Terra firme forests of the entire Amazonas and Orinoco river basin, do not seek and find their food optically but sensory.
For our customers: the animals have code 293804 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
