Updated 16 April 2024
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Subfamily MORMYRINAE Bonaparte 1831
Boulengeromyrus Taverne & Géry 1968 in honor of Belgian-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist George A. Boulenger (1858–1937), British Museum (Natural History), who described 70 currently valid species of mormyrids; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Boulengeromyrus knoepffleri Taverne & Géry 1968 in honor of friend and colleague Louis-Philippe Knoepffler (1926–1984), for contributions to the herpetology and ichthyology of Gabon
Brevimyrus Taverne 1971 brevis (L.), short, referring to moderately short body compared with Brienomyrus; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Brevimyrus niger (Günther 1866) Latin for dark, described as having indistinct and irregular darkish cross bands and black head, back and fins (coloration is actually golden to silver above, silver below, with light speckles above and on the sides)
Brienomyrus Taverne 1971 in honor of Belgian zoologist Paul Brien (1894–1975), professor emeritus, Université libre de Bruxelles; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Brienomyrus brachyistius (Gill 1862) short-sailed, frombrachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short, and histíon (Gr. ἱστίον), sail (i.e., dorsal fin), referring to its short dorsal fin
Brienomyrus longianalis (Boulenger 1901) longus (L.), long; analis (L.), pertaining to anal fin, which is 2.0–2.5 times longer than dorsal fin
Campylomormyrus Bleeker 1874 campylo-, from kampýlos (Gr. καμπύλος), bent or curved, i.e., a Mormyrus with a downward-pointing snout
Campylomormyrus alces (Boulenger 1920) Latin for elk or deer, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to deer-like coloration, dark brown above and silvery white below
Campylomormyrus bredoi (Poll 1945) in honor of Belgian explorer Hans J. Brédo (1903–1991), who collected holotype
Campylomormyrus cassaicus (Poll 1967) -icus (L.), belonging to: Kasai (spelled Cassai in Angola) River drainage, which includes Luachimo River, type locality
Campylomormyrus christyi (Boulenger 1920) in honor of Cuthbert Christy (1863–1932), English physician (specializing in sleeping sickness), zoologist, explorer, and Director of the Congo Museum (Tervuren, Belgium), who collected holotype
Campylomormyrus compressirostris Pellegrin 1924 compressus (L.), squeezed or pressed together; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, “extended into a long tube, strongly compressed laterally” (translation) [treated as synonym of C. rhynchophorus by some workers]
Campylomormyrus curvirostris (Boulenger 1898) curvus (L.), curved; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to nearly vertical downward-pointing snout
Campylomormyrus elephas (Boulenger 1898) Latin for elephant, probably referring to its long, elephant trunk-like snout
Campylomormyrus luapulaensis (David & Poll 1937) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Luapula River, Congo River basin, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), type locality
Campylomormyrus mirus (Boulenger 1898) Latin for wonderful, allusion not explained, possibly referring to the striking appearance of its markedly elongate barbel, up to ¾ length of snout
Campylomormyrus numenius (Boulenger 1898) named for the curlew genus Numenius, wading birds whose long, slender, downcurved bills are similar to the snout of this fish
Campylomormyrus orycteropus Poll, Gosse & Orts 1982 named for the aardvark Orycteropus afer, referring to the aardvark-like shape of its nose
Campylomormyrus phantasticus (Pellegrin 1927) from phantastikós (Gr. φανταστικός), imaginary, allusion not explained, probably referring to the downward-pointing snout of this “curieux Poisson” (curious fish)
Campylomormyrus rhynchophorus (Boulenger 1898) snout-bearing, from rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, and phoreús (Gr. φορεύς), bearer or carrier, referring to its prominent snout, twice as large as the postocular part of its head
Campylomormyrus tamandua (Günther 1864) genus name for the edentate anteaters of tropical America, from the Portuguese tamanduá, derived from the Tupí taa, ant, and mundeu, trap or catch, presumably referring to long and nearly straight tubular snout, resembling that of an anteater
Campylomormyrus tshokwe (Poll 1967) etymology not explained but probably referring to the Tschokwe (also spelled Chokwe) peoples of central Africa, where this species occurs
Cryptomyrus Sullivan, Lavoué & Hopkins 2016 crypto, Latinized from kryptós (Gr. κρυπτός), secret or hidden, referring to the rarity of these fishes in collections; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Cryptomyrus ogoouensis Sullivan, Lavoué & Hopkins 2016 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ogooué River, Gabon, where it is endemic
Cryptomyrus ona Sullivan, Lavoué & Hopkins 2016 in honor of Marc Ona Essangui, Gabonese environmental and civic activist, founder and executive director of the NGO Brainforest and recipient of the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize, for his efforts to protect Gabon’s equatorial forests and wetlands [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Cyphomyrus Myers 1960 cypho, from kyphós (Gr. κυφός), hunchbacked, referring to their convex predorsal profile; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Cyphomyrus aelsbroecki (Poll 1945) in honor of R. P. Van Aelsbroeck, Musée du Congo Belge (Tervuren, Belgium), who collected holotype
Cyphomyrus cubangoensis (Pellegrin 1936) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Cubango (now Okavango) River basin, Angola, type locality
Cyphomyrus discorhynchus (Peters 1852) round-snouted, from dískos (Gr. δίσκος), any flat or circular plate, and rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its rounded snout
Cyphomyrus grahami (Norman 1928) in honor of fisheries biologist Michael Graham (1898–1972), who collected holotype during a “fishing survey” of Lake Victoria and presented it to the British Museum (Natural History)
Cyphomyrus lufirae Mulelenu, Manda, Decru, Manda & Vreven 2020 of the lower and middle Lufira River basin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it appears to be endemic
Cyphomyrus macrops (Boulenger 1909) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to its large eyes, twice as long as snout
Cyphomyrus petherici (Boulenger 1898) in honor of Welsh trader and explorer John Petherick (1813–1882), who collected holotype
Cyphomyrus psittacus (Boulenger 1897) from psittakós (Gr. ψιττακός), parrot, allusion not explained, perhaps its silver and dark grey coloration is similar to that of the African Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus
Cyphomyrus weeksii (Boulenger 1902) in honor of John Henry Weeks (1861–1924), Baptist missionary, ethnographer, explorer and diarist, who collected holotype at his mission station in Monsembe, upper Congo River, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Cyphomyrus wilverthi (Boulenger 1898) in honor of Belgian army officer Étienne Christophe Bernard Eugène Wilverth (1866–1916), who collected numerous fishes, including this one, from the Congo under the auspices of the Société d’Études Coloniales
Genyomyrus Boulenger 1898 génys (Gr. γένυς), jaw (usually the lower jaw in ichthyology), allusion not explained but possibly referring to small, rasp-like teeth in jaws; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Genyomyrus donnyi Boulenger 1898 in honor of Gen. Albert-Ernest Donny (1841–1923), president of the Société d’Études Coloniales, which sponsored the first major collection of fishes from the Congo
Gnathonemus Gill 1863 gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw; nḗma (Gr. νῆμα), thread or yard, referring to lower jaw of G. petersii with a “conical flap or barbel”
Gnathonemus barbatus Poll 1967 Latin for bearded, referring to its long chin barbel
Gnathonemus echidnorhynchus Pellegrin 1924 echidna-snouted, from échidna (Gr. ἔχιδνα), viper, but here referring to echidnas (spiny anteaters), and rhýnchos (Gr. ῥύγχος), snout, referring to its prolonged snout, which vaguely resembles that of an echidna
Gnathonemus longibarbis (Hilgendorf 1888) longus (L.), long; barbis (scientific Neo-Latin), barbel, referring to its longer barbels (nearly equal to snout length) compared with Mormyrus (=Marcusenius) ussheri, its presumed congener at the time
Gnathonemus petersii (Günther 1862) patronym not identified but probably in honor of Wilhelm Peters (1815–1883), German herpetologist and explorer who traveled to Africa and returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens
Heteromormyrus Steindachner 1866 héteros (Gr. ἕτερος), different, proposed as a subgenus of Mormyrus in which the anal fin of H. pauciradiatius is longer than the dorsal fin, unlike its presumed congeners at the time
Heteromormyrus ansorgii (Boulenger 1905) in honor of English explorer and collector William John Ansorge (1850–1913), who collected holotype
Heteromormyrus longilateralis (Kramer & Swartz 2010) longus (L.), long; lateralis (L.), of the side, referring to its longer lateral line (more scales) compared with other members of H. ansorgii species complex
Heteromormyrus pappenheimi (Boulenger 1910) in honor of German zoologist Paul Pappenheim (1878–1945), curator of fishes, Königliche Zoologische Museum (Berlin), for his contributions to the knowledge of mormyrids
Heteromormyrus pauciradiatus Steindachner 1866 paucus (L.), few; radiatus (L.), rayed, referring to significantly fewer dorsal and anal fin rays compared to the similarly round-nosed Mormyrus (=Cyphomyrus) discorhynchus, its presumed congener at the time
Heteromormyrus szaboi (Kramer, van der Bank & Wink 2004) in honor of the late Thomas Szabo (1924–1993), Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie Sensorielle Comparée, one of the founding fathers of the field of electroreception and mentor and friend to senior author
Heteromormyrus tavernei (Poll 1972) in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Louis Taverne, Musée Royal de L’Afrìque Centrale (Tervuren, Belgium), whose osteological studies have considerably advanced the classification of mormyrid fishes
Hippopotamyrus Pappenheim 1906 referring to its lower median teeth, which, in their direction and length, correspond to those of the lower jaw of a hippopotamus; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Hippopotamyrus castor Pappenheim 1906 Latin for beaver, referring to the median teeth which protrude from lower jaw like the incisors of a beaver
Hippopotamyrus paugyi Lévêque & Bigorne 1985 in honor of the authors’ colleague Didier Paugy, ichthyologist-hydrobiologist, ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), with whom this species was collected
Hippopotamyrus pictus (Marcusen 1864) Latin for painted or colored, probably referring to the dark bow tie-like (“Querbinde”) marking across its body
Hyperopisus Gill 1862 hypero-, from hypér (Gr. ὑπέρ), beyond, over, above or very; pisus, grammatically bent into shape from pisum (L.), pea, referring to pisiform (pea-shaped) palatal (on roof of mouth) teeth
Hyperopisus bebe (Lacepède 1803) named for a place in Egypt where this species is abundant and/or where images of this fish (ancient Egyptians considered mormyrids sacred) can be seen in the ruins of temple of Isis (Egyptian goddess of fertility)
Hyperopisus bebe occidentalis Günther 1866 Latin for western, presumably a West African variant of the nilotic H. b. bebe
Isichthys Gill 1863 is-, from ísos (Gr. ἴσος), equal, probably referring to the “comparative proportions” of its elongated dorsal and anal fins; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish
Isichthys henryi Gill 1863 in honor of Gill’s friend Joseph Henry (1797–1878), first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), “to whom I have been so much indebted for the privileges of studying the rich collections of the Institution, and especially of investigating the class to which the present species belongs”
Ivindomyrus Taverne & Géry 1975 named for Ivindo River, Gabon, type locality of I. opdenboschi; -myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Ivindomyrus marchei (Sauvage 1879) in honor of French explorer and naturalis Antonine-Alfred Marche (1844–1898), who collected specimens (including holotype of this species) from the Ogooué (Ogowe) River in Gabon under the command of French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Ivindomyrus opdenboschi Taverne & Géry 1975 in honor of Armand Opdenbosch (1929–1977), chief technician and taxidermist, Musée Royal de I’Afrique Centrale, for his invaluable technical aid in the study of mormyrid systematics
Marcusenius Gill 1862 –ius (L.), pertaining to: patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Baltic German physician-ichthyologist Johann Marcusen (1817–1894), who wrote the first systematic studies of mormyrids in 1854
Marcusenius abadii (Boulenger 1901) in honor of Capt. George Howard Fanshawe Abadie (1873–1904), British Army, who collected fishes along the Niger River and contributed a single specimen of this elephantfish to the British Museum
Marcusenius altisambesi Kramer, Skelton, van der Bank & Wink 2007 alti-, from altus (L.), high; sambesi, Zambezi, referring to distribution in Upper Zambezi River (Namibia), at section ending at Victoria Falls
Marcusenius angolensis (Boulenger 1905) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Angola (Quanza River), type locality
Marcusenius annamariae (Parenzan 1939) matronym not identified nor can identity be inferred from available evidence
Marcusenius bentleyi (Boulenger 1897) in honor of Baptist missionary William Holman Bentley (1855–1905), who acquired holotype at Stanley (Boyoma) Falls, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Marcusenius brucii (Boulenger 1910) in honor of Major G. E. Bruce, possibly George Evans Bruce (1867–1949), who obtained specimen and presented it to the British Museum
Marcusenius caudisquamatus Maake, Gon & Swartz 2014 cauda (L.), tail; squamatus (L.), scaled, referring to high number of circumpeduncular scales relative to congeners in South Africa
Marcusenius cuangoanus (Poll 1967) –anus (L.), belonging to: Cuango River drainage (Angola), type locality
Marcusenius cyprinoides (Linnaeus 1758) –oides, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: cyprinus, from kyprí̄nos (Gr. κυπρῖνος), carp, probably referring to its carp-like shape compared with the elongate shape of Mormyrops anguilloides, its presumed congener at the time
Marcusenius deboensis (Daget 1954) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Debo, Niger, type locality
Marcusenius desertus Kramer, van der Bank & Wink 2016 Latin for desert, named for the Skeleton Coast desert, Skeleton Coast National Park (Namibia), type locality
Marcusenius devosi Kramer, Skelton, van der Bank & Wink 2007 in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Luc De Vos (1957–2003), late curator of fishes at Nairobi Museum, for his contributions to African ichthyology and promotion of ichthyology in East Africa
Marcusenius dundoensis (Poll 1967) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dundo, Angola, near Sanga River, tributary of Luachimo River, type locality
Marcusenius elegans Fricke & Kramer 2022 Latin for elegant, referring to its slender body [replacement name for M. gracilis Kramer 2013, preoccupied by M. senegalensis gracilis]
Marcusenius friteli (Pellegrin 1904) in honor of paleobiologist and scientific illustrator Paul-Honoré Fritel (1867–1927), Pellegrin’s colleague at Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris)
Marcusenius furcidens (Pellegrin 1920) furcatus (L.), forked; dens (L.), tooth, probably referring to its markedly indented teeth
Marcusenius fuscus (Pellegrin 1901) Latin for dusky, dark or swarthy, referring to its uniformly chocolate-brown color
Marcusenius ghesquierei (Poll 1945) in honor of Belgian botanist-entomologist Jean Ghesquière (1888–1982), who collected holotype
Marcusenius greshoffii (Schilthuis 1891) in honor of Anton Greshoff (1856–1905), Dutch trader and collector who presented several species from the Congo to the Zoological Museum of Utrecht University, including holotype of this one
Marcusenius intermedius Pellegrin 1924 inter (L.), between; medius (L.), middle, presumed to be a “forme intermediaire” between Marcusenius and Gnathonemus
Marcusenius kainjii Lewis 1974 of Lake Kainji, an artificial lake in lower Niger River, Nigeria, where only known specimen was collected
Marcusenius kaninginii Kisekelwa, Boden, Snoeks & Vreven 2016 in honor of Boniface Kaningini Mwenyimali, Director of UERHA (Unité d’Enseignement et de Recherche en Hydrobiologie Appliquée) and Rector of Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Bukavu (Democratic Republic of the Congo); he “supported in various ways” the sampling expeditions of the first author in the Lowa River Basin (DCR), where this species occurs
Marcusenius krameri Maake, Gon & Swartz 2014 in honor of German ichthyologist Leo Bernd Kramer, Zoological Institute of the University of Regensburg (Germany), for his contributions to the systematics of southern African mormyrids
Marcusenius kutuensis (Boulenger 1899) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kutu Island, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), type locality
Marcusenius lambouri (Pellegrin 1904) in honor of Jean-Baptiste Lambour, a préparateur in the herpetology department (1891–1924) of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), where Pellegrin worked
Marcusenius leopoldianus (Boulenger 1899) –anus (L.), belonging to: Lake Leopold (now Lake Mai-Ndombe), Democratic Republic of the Congo, type locality
Marcusenius livingstonii (Boulenger 1899) in honor of Charles Livingstone (1821–1873, brother of Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone), who collected holotype
Marcusenius lucombesi Maake, Gon & Swartz 2014 of Lucombe River, a tributary of the Ruvuma River system in the Niassa Game Reserve, Mozambique, type locality
Marcusenius macrolepidotus (Peters 1852) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; lepidōtós (Gr. λεπιδωτός), scaly, referring to larger scales compared with the similar Mormyrus geoffroyi (=niloticus), its presumed congener at the time
Marcusenius macrophthalmus (Pellegrin 1924) big-eyed, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its enormous (“énorme”) eye, almost twice length of snout and included just 2.66 times in length of head
Marcusenius mento (Boulenger 1890) from the Latin mentum, chin, which is “strongly swollen”
Marcusenius meronai Bigorne & Paugy 1990 in honor of the authors’ friend and colleague, fish ecologist Bernard de Merona
Marcusenius monteiri (Günther 1873) in honor of Portuguese mining engineer and entomologist Joachim J. Monteiro (1833–1878), who collected holotype
Marcusenius moorii (Günther 1867) in honor of Thomas John Moore (1824–1892), curator, Free Public Museum of Liverpool, who loaned to Günther specimens collected by R. B. N. Walker in Gabon
Marcusenius multisquamatus Kramer & Wink 2013 multi- (L.), many; squamatus (L.), scaled, referring to higher number of lateral-line scales compared with most specimens in the M. macrolepidotus species complex
Marcusenius ntemensis (Pellegrin 1927) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ntem River, Cameroon, type locality
Marcusenius pongolensis (Fowler 1934) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pongola River, Paulpietersburg district, South Africa, type locality
Marcusenius sanagaensis Boden, Teugels & Hopkins 1997 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sanaga River basin (Cameroon), type locality
Marcusenius schilthuisiae (Boulenger 1899) in honor of Dutch ichthyologist-herpetologist Lubbina “Louise” Schilthuis, curator at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Utrecht, who reported this species as Mormyrus grandisquamis (=Marcusenius moorii) in 1891
Marcusenius senegalensis (Steindachner 1870) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Taoué and Dagana, Senegal, co-type localities
Marcusenius senegalensis gracilis (Pellegrin 1922) Latin for thin or slender, referring to its more elongate body compared with the nominate form
Marcusenius senegalensis pfaffi (Fowler 1958) in honor of Swedish ichthyologist Johannes Rasch Pfaff (d. 1959), who described this taxon in 1933 but used a preoccupied name (Gnathonemus elongatus, secondarily preoccupied by Mormyrus elongatus Rüppell 1832, a junior synonym of Marcusenius cyprinoides)
Marcusenius stanleyanus (Boulenger 1897) –anus (L.), belonging to: Stanley (Boyoma) Falls, Democratic Republic of the Congo, type locality
Marcusenius thomasi (Boulenger 1916) in honor of British anthropologist Northcote W. Thomas (1868–1936), who collected holotype
Marcusenius ussheri (Günther 1867) in honor of Herbert Taylor Ussher (1836–1880), Deputy Assistant Commissary-General, Lagos, on the Bossumprah River, Gold Coast (now Ghana), who collected holotype
Marcusenius verheyenorum Mambo Baba, Kisekelwa, Mizani, Decru & Vreven 2020 in honor of zoologists Walter Verheyen (1932–2005), University of Antwerp, and his son Eric Verheyen, University of Antwerp and Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, for their commitment to the training of Congolese researchers in general and those of the University of Kisangani and the Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité in particular
Marcusenius victoriae (Worthington 1929) of Lake Victoria, East Africa, one of the type localities
Marcusenius wamuinii Decru, Sullivan & Vreven 2019 in honor of Soleil Wamuini Lunkayilakio, Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Mbanza-Ngungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo), for his “great” contribution to the sampling effort that resulted in the discovery of this species (he helped collect holotype), and to recognize him as one of the first Congolese ichthyologists
Mormyrops Müller 1843 ópsis (Gr. ὄψις), appearance, presumably referring to its similarity to and/or affinity with Mormyrus
Subgenus Mormyrus
Mormyrops anguilloides (Linnaeus 1758) –oides, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: anguilla (L.), eel, probably referring to its elongate shape compared with the deeper-bodied, carp-like shape of Marcusenius cyprinoides, its presumed congener at the time
Mormyrops attenuatus Boulenger 1898 Latin for drawn-out or tapered, referring to its elongate shape, in which body height is contained in 8½ times the body length
Mormyrops batesianus Boulenger 1909 –anus (L.), belonging to: American farmer and amateur ornithologist George Latimer Bates (1863–1940), who collected specimens for the Natural History Museum (London) in Cameroon, including holotype of this species
Mormyrops breviceps Steindachner 1894 brevis (L.), short; -ceps (L.), headed, referring to low, compressed and short head, slightly more than two times longer than high
Mormyrops caballus Pellegrin 1927 Latinized from kabállēs (Gr. καβάλλης), nag or horse, referring to the equine shape of its snout [not to be confused with Mormyrus caballus]
Mormyrops citernii Vinciguerra 1912 in honor of Capt. Carlo Citerni (1873–1918), who led expedition to mark boundary between Italian Somalia and Ethiopia in 1910–1911, during which holotype was collected
Mormyrops curtus Boulenger 1899 Latin for short, referring to body height contained in less than five times the body length
Mormyrops curviceps Roman 1966 curvus (L.), curved; -ceps (L.), headed, etymology not explained, perhaps referring to its more depressed head compared with M. deliciosus (=anguilloides)
Mormyrops engystoma Boulenger 1898 engýs (Gr. ἐγγύς), near or close at hand but often used in the sense of narrow; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to width of mouth “barely” (translation) ⅔ length of snout
Mormyrops furcidens Pellegrin 1900 furcatus (L.), forked; dens (L.), tooth, referring to deeply indented teeth, which resemble a fork with two branches
Mormyrops intermedius Vinciguerra 1928 inter (L.), between; medius (L.), middle, allusion not explained, presumably intermediate in form between M. attenuatus, M. furcidens, M. mariae and M. microstoma
Mormyrops lineolatus Boulenger 1898 Latin for marked with fine lines, referring to dark longitudinal lines on sides of body
Mormyrops mariae (Schilthuis 1891) matronym not identified, nor can identity be inferred from available information
Mormyrops masuianus Boulenger 1898 –anus (L.), belonging to: Lt. Jean-Baptiste Théodore Masui (1863–?, Belgian Army, secretary-general of the Brussels-Tervueren Exhibition to the Congo (who later rose to become Director of the Musée du Congo [now Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale] in Tervuren)
Mormyrops microstoma Boulenger 1898 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, its width 2/3 length of snout
Mormyrops nigricans Boulenger 1899 Latin for swarthy or blackish, referring to its dorsal coloration
Mormyrops oudoti Daget 1954 in honor of M. (Monsieur) Oudot (no other information available), who obtained holotype and several other “rare and interesting species” (translation) while shopping in Bamako, Mali, on the Niger River
Mormyrops parvus Boulenger 1899 Latin for little, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its very small (“trés petit”) eyes
Mormyrops sirenoides Boulenger 1898 –oides, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: Siren, genus of aquatic salamanders, allusion not explained, probably referring to its Siren-like shape
Mormyrops (subgenus Oxymormyrus) Bleeker 1874 oxýs (Gr. ὀξύς), sharp or pointed, referring to pointed snout of M. zanclirostris; Mormyrus, type genus of family [treated as a full genus by some workers]
Mormyrops boulengeri Pellegrin 1900 in honor of Belgian-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist George A. Boulenger (1858–1937), British Museum (Natural History), who provisionally named this species “Mormyrops tubirostris” after examining specimens at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris)
Mormyrops zanclirostris (Günther 1867) rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, allusion not explained, possibly referring to resemblance of snout to that of the Moorish Idol Zanclus cornutus
Mormyrus Linnaeus 1758 Ancient Greek name for the Striped Sea Bream Lithognathus mormyrus (Linnaeus 1758), which Linnaeus applied to M. caschive and Mormyrops anguilloides without explanation or seeming relevance, perhaps derived from the Greek μορμύρω (mormýrō), a “fish rushing through the water,” or from μαρμαίρω (marmaírō), to flash, sparkle or gleam, neither of which seem to apply to mormyrids
Mormyrus bernhardi Pellegrin 1926 in honor R. P. Bernhard (no other information available), who collected holotype near Nairobi, Kenya
Mormyrus caballus Boulenger 1898 Latinized from kabállēs (Gr. καβάλλης), nag or horse, probably referring to the equine shape of its head [not to be confused with Mormyrops caballus]
Mormyrus caballus asinus Boulenger 1915 Latin for ass, referring to its resemblance to M. caballus (named for a horse)
Mormyrus caballus bumbanus Boulenger 1909 –anus (L.), belonging to: Bumba River at Assobam, southern Cameroon, type locality
Mormyrus caballus lualabae Reizer 1964 of the Lualaba (Zaire) River and Upemba Lake system, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it occurs
Mormyrus casalis Vinciguerra 1922 –is, Latin genitive singular of: in memory of Capt. Ugo Casale, Italian Army offer and a resident of Afgoi, Somalia, who collected holotype and sent it to the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova
Mormyrus caschive Linnaeus 1758 Arabic vernacular for Mormyrops anguilloides, previously thought to be a senior synonym of this species
Mormyrus cyaneus Roberts & Stewart 1976 from kýanos) (Gr. κύανος), dark blue (but often used as a general term for blue), referring to uniformly light blue coloration on body and dark- or blackish-blue head
Mormyrus felixi Pellegrin 1939 in honor of French botanist and explorer Henri Jacques-Félix (1907–2008), who collected holotype in Cameroon
Mormyrus goheeni Fowler 1919 in honor of Methodist medical missionary Sylvanus McIntyre E. Goheen (1813–1851), the first person to collect fishes (for science) in Liberia
Mormyrus hasselquistii Valenciennes 1847 in honor of Swedish naturalist Fredric Hasselquist (1722–1752), the first to describe a mormyrid (Mormyrus caschive) but in a pre-Linnaean publication (1757)
Mormyrus hasselquistii guentheri Boulenger 1899 in honor of German-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830–1914), who recorded this taxon as M. hasselquistii in 1866
Mormyrus hildebrandti Peters 1882 in honor of German botanist and explorer Johannes Maria Hildebrandt (1847–1881), who collected holotype
Mormyrus iriodes Roberts & Stewart 1976 –oides, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: í̄ris (Gr. ἶρις), rainbow, referring to the delicate pinkish, violaceous and bluish-green reflections on live specimens
Mormyrus kannume Fabricius 1775 Arabic name for this fish [authorship often given as Forsskål 1775]
Mormyrus lacerda Castelnau 1861 in honor of the Portuguese explorer and astronomer Francisco José Maria de Lacerda (1753–1798) [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Mormyrus longirostris Peters 1852 longus (L.), long; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to its produced snout, as long as or slightly shorter than postocular part of head
Mormyrus macrocephalus Worthington 1929 big-headed, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its longer head compared with M. hasselquistii
Mormyrus macrophthalmus Günther 1866 big-eyed, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its large eyes, 2/7 length of head
Mormyrus niloticus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) –icus (L.), belonging to: Nile River (described from upper Egypt)
Mormyrus ovis Boulenger 1898 Latin for sheep, referring to how its head (one quarter longer than high in profile and bent sharply higher) resembles that of a sheep
Mormyrus proboscirostris Boulenger 1888 proboscis (L.), snout or elephant trunk; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, “very long, reminiscent of a trunk” (translation) [treated as a synonym or subspecies of M. rume by some workers]
Mormyrus rume Valenciennes 1847 vernacular used by Senegalese fishermen for this species
Mormyrus subundulatus Roberts 1989 sub (L.), less or under; undulatus (L.), wavy, referring to much less pronounced EOD (electric organ discharge) wave form compared with the sympatric M. rume
Mormyrus tapirus Pappenheim 1905 Latinization of tapir, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its tapir-like snout
Mormyrus tenuirostris Peters 1882 tenuis (L.), thin or slender; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to its attenuate snout
Mormyrus thomasi Pellegrin 1938 in honor of the late Jean Thomas (1890–1932), fisheries scientist who collected for the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris) in French Equatorial Africa, and who collected holotype during his last expedition in 1929–1930
Myomyrus Boulenger 1898 etymology not explained, perhaps myós (Gr. μυός), genitive of mū́s (μῦς), mouse, possibly referring to median pair of large incisor-shaped (i.e., mouse-like) teeth of M. macrodon; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Myomyrus macrodon Boulenger 1898 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, presumably referring to median pair of large incisor-shaped teeth
Myomyrus macrops Boulenger 1914 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to larger eye compared with M. macrodon
Myomyrus pharao Poll & Taverne 1967 Latin for pharaoh, title of Egyptian kings, referring to short barbel that adorns chin, presumably similar to false beard of a pharaoh
Paramormyrops Taverne, Thys van den Audenaerde & Heymer 1977 pará (Gr. παρά), near, referring to resemblance of P. gabonensis to Mormyrops in general form but with shorter body and head
Paramormyrops batesii (Boulenger 1906) in honor of American farmer and amateur ornithologist George Latimer Bates (1863–1940), who collected specimens for the Natural History Museum (London) in Cameroon, including holotype of this species
Paramormyrops curvifrons (Taverne, Thys van den Audenaerde, Heymer & Géry 1977) curvus (L.), bent; frons (L.), face, brow or forehead, referring to the slightly concave profile of its head
Paramormyrops gabonensis Taverne, Thys van den Audenaerde & Heymer 1977 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Gabon, where type locality (Ivindo River, near M’Passa, Makokou) is situated
Paramormyrops hopkinsi (Taverne & Thys van den Audenaerde 1985) in honor of neurobiologist and mormyrid researcher Carl D. Hopkins (b. 1944), Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, USA), who collected holotype in 1975
Paramormyrops jacksoni (Poll 1967) in honor of British ichthyologist Peter B. N. Jackson (1924–2007), author of Fishes of Northern Rhodesia (1961) [possibly an emaciated Pollimyrus cf. castelnaui ]
Paramormyrops kingsleyae (Günther 1896) in honor of British ethnographer, scientific writer and explorer Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1862–1900), who collected holotype
Paramormyrops longicaudatus (Taverne, Thys van den Audenaerde, Heymer & Géry 1977) longus (L.), long; caudatus (L.), tailed, referring to elongate caudal peduncle
Paramormyrops ntotom Rich, Sullivan & Hopkins 2017 word for mormyrid fish in the language of the Fang people from northern Gabon (where it occurs), Equatorial Guinea and southern Cameroon
Paramormyrops retrodorsalis (Nichols & Griscom 1917) retro– (L.), back or backward; dorsalis (L.), of the back, referring to posterior position of dorsal fin compared with P. sphekodes
Paramormyrops sphekodes (Sauvage 1879) -o[i]des, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: sphēkós (Gr. σφηκός), genitive of sphḗx (σφήξ), wasp, i.e., wasp-like, allusion not explained nor evident
Pollimyrus Taverne 1971 in honor of Taverne’s professor and friend, Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll (1908–1991); –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus of family
Pollimyrus adspersus (Günther 1866) Latin for besprinkled, referring to brown dots all over its body
Pollimyrus brevis (Boulenger 1913) Latin for short, referring to short body compared with Marcusenius ihuysi (=Brevimyrus niger), its presumed congener at the time
Pollimyrus castelnaui (Boulenger 1911) in honor of French naturalist Francis de Castelnau (1810–1880), who described a number of new fishes from Lake Ngami (Bechuanaland, now Botswana), type locality
Pollimyrus cuandoensis Kramer, van der Bank & Wink 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kwando (Cuando) River, Namibia, only known area of occurrence
Pollimyrus eburneensis Bigorne 1991 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: eburn, ivory, referring Ivory Coast, to type locality
Pollimyrus fasciaticeps (Boulenger 1920) fascia (L.) band or stripe; -ceps (L.), headed, referring to brown stripe on head
Pollimyrus guttatus (Fowler 1936) Latin for spotted or speckled, referring to conspicuous close-set blackish-brown spots on head and body, one to each scale on trunk and tail
Pollimyrus isidori (Valenciennes 1847) in honor of French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805–1861), whose collection supplied holotype
Pollimyrus macroterops (Boulenger 1920) macro-, from makrós (Gr. makrós), long or large; teres (L.), rounded; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its considerably larger eye compared with P. tumifrons
Pollimyrus maculipinnis (Nichols & La Monte 1934) macula (L.), spot, stain or mark; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, referring to “vague, blackish blotch” in front of dorsal and anal fins and at base of caudal fin
Pollimyrus marianne Kramer, van der Bank, Flint, Sauer-Gürth & Wink 2003 in honor of Marianne Elfriede Kramer, the senior author’s mother
Pollimyrus nigricans (Boulenger 1906) Latin for swarthy or blackish, referring to its uniform blackish brown color
Pollimyrus nigripinnis (Boulenger 1899) niger (L.), dark; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, referring to its blackish fins
Pollimyrus osborni (Nichols & Griscom 1917) in honor of American zoologist Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857–1935), President of the American Museum of Natural History (New York), whose “continuing and inspiring support” led to the “great success” of the authors’ Congo Expedition
Pollimyrus pedunculatus (David & Poll 1937) Latin for peduncled, referring to the long caudal peduncle of the holotype, its depth 25% of its length (specimens from other locations have shorter, deeper peduncles)
Pollimyrus petricolus (Daget 1954) pétra (Gr. πέτρα), rock or stone; –colus (L.), living among, referring to capture of type specimens among falls and rocky stream bottoms
Pollimyrus plagiostoma (Boulenger 1898) plágios (Gr. πλάγιος), sideways or oblique; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, allusion not explained, possibly referring to how mouth is located at an angle below front edge of eye
Pollimyrus pulverulentus (Boulenger 1899) pulvereus (L.), dusty; –lentus (L. suffix), full of, referring to olive-brown body speckled with black
Pollimyrus schreyeni Poll 1972 in honor of André Schreyen, “collaborateur” (and nephew) of aquarium-fish exporter Pierre Brichard (1921–1990), who collected holotype
Pollimyrus stappersii kapangae (David 1935) of Kapanga (also spelled Katanga), Zaire (now Shaba, Democratic Republic of the Congo), type locality
Pollimyrus stappersii (Boulenger 1915) in honor of Belgian physician-biologist Jean Hubert Louis Stappers (1883–1916), head of the Belgian mission to the Congo, who led an expedition to lakes Tanganyika and Moero in 1911–1913 and collected holotype
Pollimyrus tumifrons (Boulenger 1902) tumi-, artificially derived from tumeo (L.), to swell or be swollen; frons (L.), face or brow, probably referring to rounded snout, which strongly projects beyond mouth
Stomatorhinus Boulenger 1898 stomatos (Gr. στόματος), genitive of stóma (στόμα), mouth; rhinus, from rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose or snout, referring to posterior nostrils close to rictus of mouth (in all other mormyrid genera posterior nostrils are remote from mouth)
Stomatorhinus ater Pellegrin 1924 Latin for black, presumably referring to the uniform dark-brown coloration of its body and fins
Stomatorhinus corneti Boulenger 1899 in honor of Belgian physician-naturalist Jules Cornet (1865–1929), for his work on the fauna and geology of the Congo
Stomatorhinus fuliginosus Poll 1941 Latin for sooty, probably referring to the uniformly brown coloration of its body and fins
Stomatorhinus humilior Boulenger 1899 Latin for lower or humbler, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its being smallest species in genus (8 cm TL) known to Boulenger
Stomatorhinus ivindoensis Sullivan & Hopkins 2005 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ivindo River of Gabon, where it is endemic
Stomatorhinus kununguensis Poll 1945 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kunungu, Congo River basin, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), type locality
Stomatorhinus microps Boulenger 1898 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to its extremely small eye
Stomatorhinus patrizii Vinciguerra 1928 in honor of Italian entomologist Saverio Patrizi (1902–1957), who collected holotype, and for donating specimens from his Congo expedition to the Museum Civico di Storia Naturale de Genova
Stomatorhinus polli Matthes 1964 in honor of “le grand” Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll (1908–1991), for his guidance of and generous assistance to Matthes’ work
Stomatorhinus polylepis Boulenger 1899 polý (Gr. πολύ), many; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to greater number of scales on caudal peduncle (20–22) compared with congeners examined by Boulenger
Stomatorhinus puncticulatus Boulenger 1899 Latin for dotted, referring to purplish brown dots over body
Stomatorhinus schoutedeni Poll 1945 in honor of Belgian zoologist Henri Schouteden (1881–1972), who collected many new species in the Belgian Congo, including holotype of this one
Subfamily PETROCEPHALINAE Gill 1862
Petrocephalus Marcusen 1854 pétra (Gr. πέτρα), rock or stone; cephalus, Latinized from kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, Latin translation of Arabic vernacular ras el hagar (“stonehead”), possibly referring to the short, well-rounded (i.e., stone-like) snout of P. bane and P. bove
Petrocephalus ansorgii Boulenger 1903 in honor of English explorer and collector William John Ansorge (1850–1913), who collected holotype
Petrocephalus arnegardi Lavoué & Sullivan 2014 in honor of friend and colleague Matthew E. Arnegard (b. 1967), for contributions to the study of mormyrid evolution and diversification; in addition, Arnegard is a member of the “Mintotom Team” of researchers associated with the Carl D. Hopkins Laboratory (Cornell University), who have conducted field studies on African weakly electric fishes for more than 15 years (Mintotom is the plural form of the word for mormyrid fish in the Fang language of West Central Africa)
Petrocephalus balayi Sauvage 1883 in honor of French explorer and colonial administrator Noel Eugene Balay (1847–1902), who collected holotype
Petrocephalus bane (Lacepède 1803) Arabic name for this species
Petrocephalus bane comoensis de Merona 1979 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Comoé River, Gansé, Ivory Coast, type locality
Petrocephalus bane tchadensis Blache & Miton 1961 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tchad (French for Chad), referring to Lake Chad basin, type locality
Petrocephalus binotatus Pellegrin 1924 bi-, from bis (L.), two; notatus (L.), marked, probably referring to dark, round spot at top of dorsal fin and blackish crescents at base of tail
Petrocephalus boboto Lavoué & Sullivan 2014 Lingala (language spoken at type locality) word meaning peace, alluding to the right of all people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to live in peace and safety
Petrocephalus bovei (Valenciennes 1847) in honor of Nicolas Bové (1812–1841), Luxembourgian gardener, botanist and collector who supplied type material to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris)
Petrocephalus bovei guineensis Reizer, Mattei & Chevalier 1973 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Guinean region of west Africa, where it is endemic to coastal rivers
Petrocephalus catostoma (Günther 1866) cato-, from katá (Gr. κατά), downwards, beneath, below or under; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, probably referring to how cleft of mouth is at lower side of snout
Petrocephalus christyi Boulenger 1920 in honor of Cuthbert Christy (1863–1932), English physician (specializing in sleeping sickness), zoologist, explorer, and Director of the Congo Museum (Tervuren, Belgium), who collected holotype
Petrocephalus congicus David & Poll 1937 –icus (L.), belonging to: Congo River basin of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), where it is endemic
Petrocephalus cunganus Boulenger 1910 –anus (L.), belonging to: cunga, referring to Quanza River at Cunga, Angola, type locality
Petrocephalus degeni Boulenger 1906 in honor of Swiss ornithologist Edward Degen (1852–1923), who “utilized his leisure” while serving as an assistant to Prof. E. A. Minchin in Uganda and collected holotype
Petrocephalus frieli Lavoué 2012 in honor of ichthyologist John P. Friel, then-curator of the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates (Ithaca, New York, USA), for his contribution to African ichthyology and for his care of the large collection of African electric fishes at CUMV; he also helped collect holotype
Petrocephalus gliroides (Vinciguerra 1897) –oides, Neo-Latin from eí̄dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: gliris, genitive of glis (L.), dormouse, allusion not explained but with some imagination tjis fish can be said to resemble a European dormouse Glis glis
Petrocephalus grandoculis Boulenger 1920 grandis (L.), large; oculus (L.), eye, the diameter of which is included three times in the head length and equal to interocular width
Petrocephalus haullevillii Boulenger 1912 in honor of Alphonse de Haulleville (1860–1938), director, Congo Museum (Tervuren, Belgium)
Petrocephalus hutereaui (Boulenger 1913) in honor of Belgian army officer Armand Hutereau (1875–1914), head of a Belgian ethnographic mission to the Congo, who supplied this “beautiful little fish” (translation)
Petrocephalus keatingii Boulenger 1901 in honor of British military surgeon Henry Porringer Keatinge (1861–1928), Director of the Government School of Medicine, Cairo
Petrocephalus leo Lavoué 2016 in honor of Lavoué’s son, Léo [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Petrocephalus levequei Bigorne & Paugy 1990 in honor of French ichthyologist-hydrobiologist Christian Lévêque, ORSTOM (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d’Outre-Mer), who initiated a research program on the freshwater fishes of west Africa
Petrocephalus longianalis Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 longus (L.), long; analis (L.), anal, referring to higher number of anal-fin rays (30–35) compared with congeners covered in the authors’ study
Petrocephalus longicapitis Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 longus (L.), long; capitis (L.), of the head, referring to long head length (25.8– 29.6% of SL)
Petrocephalus magnitrunci Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 magnus (L.), great; trunci, from truncus, trunk (i.e., body), described as rounded-oval with an egg-like shape
Petrocephalus magnoculis Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 magnus (L.), great; oculus (L.), eye, referring to its large eye diameter (25.9–32.9% of head length)
Petrocephalus mbossou Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard 2010 vernacular for Petrocephalus species in the Lingala language, Congo River basin
Petrocephalus microphthalmus Pellegrin 1908 small-eyed, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its small eye, 21–24% head length
Petrocephalus odzalaensis Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard 2010 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Odzala National Park, Republic of the Congo, type locality
Petrocephalus okavangensis Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Okavango River drainage, Botswana and Namibia, where it is endemic
Petrocephalus pallidomaculatus Bigorne & Paugy 1990 pallid[us] (L.), pale; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to barely visible sub-dorsal spot
Petrocephalus pellegrini Poll 1941 in honor of French ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin (1873–1944), author of Poissons des eaux douces de l’Afrique occidentale
Petrocephalus petersi Kramer, Bills, Skelton & Wink 2012 in honor of German zoologist and explorer Wilhelm Peters (1815–1883), who conducted the first major fish survey of the lower Zambezi region (1842–1848) and discovered many endemics and other more-widespread species
Petrocephalus pulsivertens Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard 2010 pulsus (L.), impulse or beating; vertens (L.), turning or exchanging, referring to the inverted appearance of its EOD (electric organ discharge) waveform, unique among all Petrocephalus recorded to date
Petrocephalus sauvagii (Boulenger 1887) in honor of French zoologist Henri Émile Sauvage (1842–1917), “who has added much to our knowledge of the fishes of tropical Africa”
Petrocephalus schoutedeni Poll 1954 in honor of Belgian zoologist Henri Schouteden (1881–1972), who collected many new species in the Belgian Congo, for the “tireless work he displayed during his long career in the service of science” (translation)
Petrocephalus similis Lavoué 2011 Latin for like or resembling, referring to its resemblance to P. sullivani
Petrocephalus simus Sauvage 1879 Latin for flat- or blunt-nosed, referring to its obliquely truncated snout
Petrocephalus soudanensis Bigorne & Paugy 1990 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Soudan, French for Sudan, referring to its occurrence in the Sudan geographic region of West Africa
Petrocephalus squalostoma (Boulenger 1915) etymology not explained, possibly squalus (L.), a sea-fish, usually applied to sharks; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, referring to its mouth, “located under the middle of the eye” (translation), like that of many sharks
Petrocephalus steindachneri Fowler 1958 in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner (1834–1919), who described this species in 1914 but used a preoccupied name, P. affinis Sauvage 1879 (=Stomatorhinus walkeri)
Petrocephalus stuhlmanni Boulenger 1909 in honor of German zoologist and explorer Franz Ludwig Stuhlmann (1863–1928), who, with Emin Pascha, led the German East Africa Expedition (1889–1892), during which holotype was collected
Petrocephalus sullivani Lavoué, Hopkins & Kamdem Toham 2004 in honor of colleague and friend John P. Sullivan (b. 1965), Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates (Ithaca, New York, USA), for his contributions to mormyrid systematics
Petrocephalus tanensis Whitehead & Greenwood 1959 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tana River, Kenya, type locality
Petrocephalus tenuicauda (Steindachner 1894) tenuis (L.), thin or slender; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its long and slender caudal peduncle
Petrocephalus valentini Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard 2010 in honor of Valentin Mbossi, pinassier [boatman] extraordinaire at Odzala National Park (Republic of the Congo), for field assistance, which is “as important as laboratory bench work and analysis when it comes to investigations of electric fish taxonomy, behavior and evolution” (his first name was selected to avoid confusion with P. mbossou)
Petrocephalus wesselsi Kramer & van der Bank 2000 in honor of Pierre Wessels (Johannesburg, South Africa), participant in the authors’ expeditions to Caprivi, Namibia, “nature conservationist and good friend”
Petrocephalus zakoni Lavoué, Sullivan & Arnegard 2010 in honor of zoologist Harold H. Zakon, University of Texas (USA), for his many contributions to neuroethology, inspiring “a new area of research on genes that underlie electrolocation and electrical communication in gymnotiform and mormyroid fishes”