Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Gymnotiformes (Knifefishes) >
Hypopomidae (Bluntnose knifefishes)
Etymology: Brachyhypopomus: Greek, brachys, eia = short + Greek, hypo = under + Greek, poma, -atos = cover (Ref. 45335); hendersoni: Named for Peter A. Henderson, British fish biologist, and doctoral co-advisor of WGRC, for his
contributions to Amazonian aquatic ecology..
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 5.3 - 6.7. Tropical; 29°C - 33°C (Ref. 116763)
South America: central Amazon and lower Negro in Brazil; and Essequibo drainage in Guyana.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 19.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 116763); 20.3 cm TL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Anal soft rays: 192 - 210. Brachyhypopomus hendersoni is distinguished from other species of the genus Brachyhypopomus by the following combination of characters: caudal filament length 32.3-64.5% length to end of anal fin (vs. 7.4-31.6% in B. alberti, B. arrayae, B. batesi, B. belindae, B. benjamini, B. bennetti, B. bombilla, B. hamiltoni, B. occidentalis, B. palenque, B. provenzanoi, B. regani, B. sullivani, and B. verdii); 15-17 precaudal vertebrae (vs. 18-25 in B. beebei, B. brevirostris, B. draco, B. flavipomus, B. gauderio, B. janeiroensis, B. jureiae, and B. pinnicaudatus); head width at occiput 39.2-47.8% HL (vs. 49.5-70.4% in B. bullocki, B. diazi, and B. menezesi); and dorsal rami of the recurrent branch of the anterior lateral line nerve not visible (vs. visible in B. cunia and B. walteri) (Ref. 116763).
Facultative air-breathing in the genus (Ref. 126274); In the type locality region, this species occurs usually in marginal emergent plants (mainly wild rice, Oryza spp.), rafts of floating macrophytes (including grasses, e.g., Paspalum, and water hyacinths, Eichhornia spp.), and decaying plant matter along the edges of low-conductivity blackwater floodplain ria lakes (e.g., lago Tefé, lago Amanã, and lago Caiambé), and along river and oxbow lake margins. Feeds on aquatic insect larvae (primarily Chironomidae), and other
small aquatic invertebrates in the type locality. Spawns in floating macrophytes during the rising and high water period (Ref. 116763).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Crampton, W.G.R., C.D. de Santana, J.C. Waddell and N.R. Lovejoy, 2017. A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical electric fish genus Brachyhypopomus (Ostariophysi: Gymnotiformes: Hypopomidae), with descriptions of 15 new species. Neotrop. ichthyol. 14(4):e150146. (Ref. 116763)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
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=0.00380 (0.00145 - 0.00994), b=3.06 (2.83 - 3.29), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.2 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).