CreatureData

Black ghost

Apteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766)

Status not recordedbony fish

The black ghost (Apteronotus albifrons) is a species in the family Apteronotidae, order Gymnotiformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the black ghost

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black ghost live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black ghost as introduced in 1 country.

  1. Mexico

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the black ghost endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the black ghost classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderGymnotiformes
  5. familyApteronotidae
  6. genusApteronotus
  7. SpeciesApteronotus albifrons (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Apteronotus passan, Gymnotus albifrons, Sternarchus albifrons, Sternarchus lacepedii, Sternarchus maximilliani

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • Apteronotid eelEnglish
  • Black ghost knifefishEnglish
  • سمك سكين الشبح الأسودArabic
  • черен ножBulgarian
  • 线翎电鳗Chinese
  • nožovka běločeláCzech
  • Hvidpandet elektroålDanish
  • Weissstirn-MesserfischGerman
  • cherogaSpanish
  • Must niitselgkalaEstonian
  • کارد ماهی شبح سیاهPersian
  • MustaveitsikalaFinnish
  • Poisson-couteau noir de jaisFrench
  • setan hitamIndonesian
  • pesce coltello fantasmaItalian
  • Iwak setanJavanese
  • Juodoji vairauodegė peiliažuvėLithuanian
  • Duch brazylijskiPolish
  • Ituí cavaloPortuguese
  • Чёрная ножетелкаRussian
  • ปลาผีดำThai
  • Cá dao ma đenVietnamese
  • 線翎電鰻Chinese
  • Amerikanischer Weißstirn MesserfischGerman
  • CuchilloSpanish
  • Cuchillo caballoSpanish
  • Itoui cavaloPortuguese
  • Ituí-cavaloPortuguese
  • Peixe-faca-pretoPortuguese
  • Chernaya nozhetelkaRussian
  • ปลาแบล็คโกสต์Thai

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the black ghost

Other species in the same genus Apteronotus.

CompareBlack ghost vs Apteronotus galvisiBlack ghost vs Apteronotus caudimaculosusBlack ghost vs Apteronotus eschmeyeriBlack ghost vs Brown ghost knifefish

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the black ghost an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the black ghost as introduced in 1 country: Mexico, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the black ghost?

The black ghost (Apteronotus albifrons) belongs to the family Apteronotidae in the order Gymnotiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black ghost (Apteronotus albifrons). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-ghost

MLA

“Black ghost (Apteronotus albifrons).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-ghost.

BibTeX
@misc{black_ghost_2026,
  title = {Black ghost (Apteronotus albifrons)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-ghost},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}